The Beginnings of a Future Pirate King
by xXdiamondroseXx
Summary: What would happen if Luffy was never given to Garp but to Whitebeard to raise Instead? Follow Luffy as he grows up with a famous crew causing trouble, happiness, laughter and belonging in a great family all while still aiming to becoming the King of the pirates.
1. Luffy's beginning on this crew

"Are we sure about this yoi?" Commander Marco asked once more just to make sure.

"Yeah pops, this whole situation is weirding me out.. I mean why would the leader of the revolutionaries want to meet with us?" Commander Thatch said agreeing with his best friend.

"Why don't we all just wait and see. I mean Garp's a nut job, who's to say his son is any better?" Commander Haruta said giving Thatch an annoyed look in response.

"GURARARARA" Whitebeards laughter boomed indicating that he was listening to his children but agreed with Haruta. "Just wait and see. "

"There, in the distance!" Thatch said leaning over the railing to see better "Pops, I think that's him!" A small boat was sailing slowly towards the grand ship.

On that small boat was a figure draped in a green cloak that covered most of his body and shadowed his face.

"Greetings New Gate, permission to come aboard?" Monkey D. Dragon asked looking past the many crew mates and directly towards the captain.

"Permission granted,though why would Garp's Rebel brat want to meet with me?" Whitebeard asked eyeing the man his interest growing.

Dragon just looked the man in the eyes before he pulled his arm out of his cloak showing the surrounding pirates a small bundle.

"This here is my son." He said making every eye widen and a few mouths comically drop.

"What are you here for brat?" Whitebeard said once he himself recovered from the initial shock.

"I want you to raise Luffy, my son. His mother is a dangerous person and my reputation will make his existence a sin against the world. We want him to grow and be free, everyone deserves to be free."

"Who is his mother exactly?" Marco asked now looking at the sleeping baby in Dragon's arms.

"No one you need to concern yourself with." He stated as if it was the most unimportant thing in the world at this moment, in which case it probably was.

"I see, why don't you get your father to raise him? He would probably love the chance to watch his grandson grow." Whitebeard stated watching the man carefully.

"Where my father has a good heart and cares deeply for his family his idles of training are…mildly abusive at best. Also, the man can't keep a secret for the life of him. I'm betting Sengoku knows I'm his son meaning they will know of Luffy soon enough. I did mention to my father of his new grandchild." He paused looking down at the child in his arms.

"I want him to grow up free from the chains of this world. My father will try and push his idles upon him and chaining him to a village will make him feel trapped. I know how you see your family, I ask that you let him in to it." Dragon felt his son waking so instead of looking at the older man he put his attention towards the boy. Luffy just opened his eyes and smiled before grabbing his father's finger to gum.

"Yes I know you're hungry." Dragon chuckled softly pulling a rather large bottle from his cloak.

"If you do choose to take him his apatite rivals my fathers and one day probably yours." Dragon said smiling now. Everyone could tell he loved his son his entire way of holding himself screamed "proud father".

"What shall we tell him of you? He may wish to know who his father actually is one day and I won't hide the fact you're not among the crew." White beard asked as Marco went and took the baby from Dragon's arms.

"Tell him the truth if he asks. Tell him I want him to be free, find what he believes in and chase it. Either way we'll meet again on this sea."

"You're a happy baby aren't you –yoi" Marco said smiling at the child in his arms Luffy just smiled wider and babbled happily.

"A little too happy for just a little guy don't cha think?" Thatch muttered but couldn't help but feel charmed by the baby's presence. Luffy with his dark eyes and hair had captured everyone's heart with just one look. Dragon studied the group with his son before giving the baby a kiss on his nose.

"Be safe, be free." He whispered Luffy just laughed.

"His full name is?" Whitebeard asked Dragon knowing full well he would be dealing with a D.

"Monkey D. Luffy, he will need a lot of food I'm hoping you can ask for some from your territories but my group here.." He trailed off now motioning his hand towards a smaller ship that had come during the time Dragon was there. "Has a few starter items to help you along for the time being. Thank you for this Whitebeard." Dragon said turning his back towards the older man before hoping back on his ship and sailing off with the others.

"Monkey D. Luffy, GURARARARA, Welcome home my son." He said to the small child who was gripping Marco's finger and falling asleep. Marco smiled at the child knowing full well life on the Moby Dick was about to change forever. 

**Hey there everyone! Sooooo where to start -_-; I love One piece but I'm very afraid to touch anything to do with it. Why? Well that's because I love the characters so much that I don't want to risk the chance of killing their character with my writing. Thing is I also love it too much not to dabble a little at least.. So I mentioned Luffy's mother in this chapter unfortunately like everyone else I don't actually know if she's alive or not I'm just tired of everyone saying she's dead so I made her alive if she turns out dead in the manga later on I can mix that is somewhere. I also picture her being a bad ass but a happy go lucky bad ass like Luffy :) I dunno my imagination could run for hours if I let it :P Any ways let me know what you think of this story so far, this is an experimental story being done in a AU so please be kind. I know criticism is nice but flames are for Sabo and Ace and I'm quite afraid of that kind of fire. Any ways I'll update again soon. Thanks again in advance! xxxDR**


	2. Lost Toys and Grumpy Days

When Marco said life was about to get interesting he didn't know just how right he was.

Luffy was a happy baby who only cried when he had absolutely no other choice meaning for things such as diaper duty and , if you caught those things in time his crying could be cut down drastically. Pops had appointed Marco his care taker seeing how he was the first to take the child from Dragon.

Marco wanted to protest that he was too busy being the first division commander but every other commander had either disappeared or pretended they couldn't help. Thatch being his best friend and fellow commander knew that if Marco was stuck on Luffy duty then he might as well be as well.

"Does he ever stop eating?" Thatch wined the baby was just finishing off his second bottle that morning.

"Well, he is a D. He's going to eat a lot regardless-yoi" Marco muttered wondering just where that food was going.

"Still it's as if he's always hungry!" Thatch pouted but smiled at the brat who had just put himself into a milk coma.

"Looks like we might be set for at least 3 hours." Vista said from the wall he was leaning on.

"Yeah only for him to wake up and want more food-yoi" Marco chuckled looking at the now sleeping baby fondly.

-

It had been months since Dragon had come and dropped the baby off and the mood on the crew had changed. Everyone couldn't help but feel charmed by the new brat on board. Luffy smiled often and laughed just as much, he babbled to everyone as if they could understand him.

This day was different though…

"He's not smiling…" Thatch had whispered. It was a rare sight to see, Luffy without his smile just didn't happen.

"Have you tried feeding him?" Haruta asked now looking down at the grumpy child.

"Yeah but he refuses to take it-yoi" Marco was worried but his lazy expression remained the same.

"What about his diaper? Maybe he's…You know…" She suggested but Marco just shook his head.

"He was fine an hour ago, he even played on the deck for a while but now I don't know…" Thatch said shrugging his shoulders.

"Do you guys think he might have lost a toy? I mean for a baby he's pretty protective of his things." Izou had said showing up to see what was going on.

"I didn't think about that –yoi" Passing the now squirming 6 month old Luffy to Thatch he made his way over towards pop's chair looking around.

"What's happening Marco?" The old man asked his son.

"Luffy's grumpy, Izou said he might have lost a toy so I'm looking around for what could be lost." He checked the area where Luffy had been sitting up playing with his blocks. He counted each one of them but realized Luffy's Stuffed reindeer was gone.

When Marco jumped up from the blocks with a look of panic on his face the old man couldn't help but laugh. His eldest son who had fought many battles never showing a hint of fear was afraid that his brother had lost his special toy.

"It's gone, no wonder he's grumpy-yoi! I'll have to talk to Izou..." He nodded towards pops who just smiled at his brat watching his run towards the gathering group.

"Well are they all there?" Vista asked trying to calm a now tearful Luffy who looked one moment away from a tantrum.

"No his reindeer is gone, Izou could you work something up, anything at all and I'll owe you-yoi!" Marco was now snatching Luffy from Vista who appeared to be making things worse.

The cross dresser just laughed before heading to his room to work on what he could for the brat.

"Luffy, Rein-chan has gone on vacation…"Thatch said to the little guy who now looked him straight in the eyes "Rein-chan won't be back for a while so he is going to send his nakama to keep you company" Luffy's eyes widened but the frown remained "He'll be here soon so be patient okay?" Luffy's eyes filled with tears but he didn't burst, not yet at least.

"I think we have until Dinner time before he loses it-yoi" Marco said with worry

"Why don't we try to distract him until then.." Vista said looking down at the little guy.

Marco carried him back over to pop's chair to play with his block again but Luffy was not interested at all. He grabbed them looked at them and threw them away with a glare.

"Okay lesson learned, when Luffy gets grumpy keep flying objects away from his angry hands" Thatch had caught a block to the knee and didn't look ready to take another.

"Let me see him." Pops had said from his chair making his son's look towards him.

"You sure pops? He's not in the best of moods?" Thatch had said in warning.

"GURARARARA let me see what I can do." Marco scooped up the baby and put him on the older man's lap. Whitebeard held Luffy up with a large hand so he could sit properly on his lap but still have his back and neck supported.

"Would you like to hear a story my son?" Luffy just looked at the older man his face blank of all emotions, whitebeard took this as his cue to get into a story for him. Luffy had paid as much attention as a baby could giving Marco and Thatch some time to think.

The time limit they had given before Luffy burst was exactly on point. Once dinner was called Luffy snapped. He cried and cried no one could stop him, not even his beloved bottle.

"He missed his first hour of feeding. He's off schedule. That and him being cranky already, we're about to have a little monster on our hands..." Thatch said rubbing his forehead. He was right Luffy cried right through the first 30 minutes of dinner before Izoucame running in with a stuffed colorful bear in his hands.

"Hey there Lu."Izou said to the little guy who stopped crying for the moment to look at the man.

"I heard Rein-chan went on vacation, he sent here Kuma-chan to keep you company until he comes back." Luffy looked at the bear in his hands before he gave a hiccup and reaching towards the toy.

"See feeling better?" He did look better his crying had all stopped and he pulled the bear close to him to hug the only thing out of place still was his lack of a smile.

"How's Luffy doing? Is he still crying?" Izou turned to see Teach of the second division walking towards them.

"His crying has stopped but he still seems a bit out of place.." Izou was now feeling worried himself.

"He be okay in a bit he just needs to get to know his new bear, Right buddy?" Thatch had said rubbing Luffy's hair.

"Zehaha sure thing, I hate seeing the kid so sad." Teach smiled before walking away.

"Don't us all-yoi." Marco agreed looking down at the child who was now smiling.

"See much better" Izou smiled grateful that his brother was going back to normal.

"He'll want food now that he's happy again, I'll go get the bottle ready." Thatch said getting up and heading towards the kitchen.

"Always smile Lu, we love it when you smile." Marco whispered into Luffy's hair while the baby cuddled his new bear.

**Hey there guys it's me again. I just want to say Thank you! To each and everyone of you! Those who are following and Favorited and reviewing Thank you! I never expected to get this many people interested! I will be working on this as often as I can, I am a college student planning on graduating this April so this next little bit will be packed :) So now onto my chapter, even the happiest of people have their bad days. I wanted to show that Luffy is still Luffy and will be a bit of a cry baby, happy go lucky kind of kind that we all know and love. I introduced Teach! Did you guys notice Luffy's reaction when he left? Any ways Thanks guys Please let me know what you guys think of everything, also I still worry about not getting their characters right so if anyone feels I'm off on some let me know and I'll fix it as best as I can :) Thanks again guys! you're the best! xxxDR**


	3. Birthdays and Teething

Today was an unusually typical pirating day for the white beard pirates it was just nearing dusk and a party was in full bloom. Why was there a party? Well their pirates of course! What pirate doesn't party, but really there was a special reason. Today happened to be Luffy's first birthday and because of that they just had to throw the little guy a party he would never remember. The music was loud and the laughter if not louder everyone was drunk in the Galley, on the deck and pretty much all over the grand Moby Dick.

Well everyone except poor Marco. When they had decide May 5th was going to be Luffy's birthday they had gathered a bucket full of everyone's names and drew the person who was not allowed to drink but to spend the night watching the one the party was aimed towards.

"You must think we're all crazy don't you-yoi" He said to Luffy who was being bounced on Marco's knee.

"We're having a drinking party for a child way too young to even remember this." He smiled when Luffy just mumbled a bit of nonsense. Marco looked at the rest of the crew and sighed.

"Looks like no one else will remember this night either-yoi" By this time Luffy was tired of being bounced and told Marco so by biting his hand.

"You're getting some pretty sharp teeth in there aren't ya buddy" Marco shook his hand realizing that that actually did hurt.

"Teeth? Since when?" A very drunk Thatch came stumbling towards the pair.

"About a month ago-yoi. He's been waking up throughout the nights because it hurts so much." Marco said but wasn't actually sure if Thatch was listening.

"Why don't you try giving him an ice cube? That way he can cool them down and if it melts, it's just water." He pointed out to his friend; Marco was actually surprised Thatch was even able to think that hard by this point.

"That is actually a good idea, but not when he's sleeping. I don't care if it's frozen water. I don't want him choking-yoi." Marco said sternly to the older man who was now laughing.

"We should probably start him on some bigger solid foods-yoi. To get his tummy ready for growing, ain't that right buddy?" Marco cooed to the child.

"Yeah, we'll make sure his first meal is pineapple!" Thatch burst out laughing to a now unamused Marco "You know like you!" Marco was ready to punch the guy over the head but kept himself calm due to Luffy being present.

"Take your drunken ass to bed Thatch and remind me to kill you in the morning-yoi."Marco's eye twitched as Luffy laughed along with Thatch probably with no clue what was going on.

"Yes mother hen...or should I say mother…PINEAPPLE!" Marco pulled Luffy into his arms and aimed a kick towards Thatch's head missing by a hair while the man ran off to cause trouble elsewhere.

"Mother Chicken I'll get him back for that. Why don't we get you changed and fed before us both head off to sleep-yoi. Sound good brat? Of course it does you get fed… Though tomorrow we'll be adding extra things to your menu." He smiled and headed towards the kitchen to warm up the bottles for bed time and maybe make himself a tea, yeah a tea sounded nice.

-

At breakfast the next morning Luffy was happily munching on a piece of apple and a slice of tangerine. He seemed to like the tangerine more than the apple but food was food in his big brown eyes.

"Pretty soon he'll have a full mouth full of teeth so if he starts to bite you make him stop so he doesn't continue that." Jozu said to the pirates that were at the breakfast table. Though his skin could turn to diamond and Marco could juts flame up normal people like Thatch and Haruta might not appreciate being bitten by a toddler. Even though he had said this he knew half the crew wasn't in their minds to listen to him. Everyone was either hung over or exhausted from partying all night. Oh well, he just make Marco remind everyone a little later.

Haruta sat down beside the little guy and smiled. "Ne, wanna see what I've been teaching him?" She smiled widely at everyone before taping Luffy on the nose to get his attention.

"Luffy, where are your ears?" Very suddenly Luffy stopped eating and lifted his hands to his ears with a smile. "How about your eyes?" Luffy moved his hands down from his ears towards his eyes and forehead area the smile still in place. "How about your mouth" Like the times before he moves his hands towards his mouth and gummed his finger where teeth hadn't come in yet. "How about your nose." Everyone was watching with fascination as the little guy did the movements except Luffy didn't know just where to grab so he reached for his half chewed up tangerine instead.

"It's still a work in progress but I do plan to make sure he has more brains in his head than half the crew does put together." She earned a round of laughter and grumbles from those present to hear her.

"GURARARA, he's growing up so fast" Pops said fondly about his youngest son.

"Yeah soon he'll be walking. His legs are getting stronger by the day. He crawls around everywhere already and pulls himself up on the railing often enough. I'd give him another month or two to figure it out and we'll be chasing him in no time-yoi." Marco said with a laugh and patted the little guys head.

"He crawls funny though haven't you noticed that?" Thatch pointed out where most babies crawled on their hands and knees Luffy just seemed to drag his back leg and crawl with his other.

"Yeah Dr. Myrah looked into it already, said everything is fine he's just being weird. It's something he'll grow out of-yoi" Marco said not worried if she said it was fine.

"Well, hopefully he won't have to and he'll be walking soon enough." Izou said with a grin. Marco had bought him a fine bottle of Sake for the bear. Luffy couldn't function without it being close by. That toy was also the reason he was able to fall asleep so well. Though since Luffy started teething the bear's ear had become Luffy's personal chew toy. Some days when Marco needed revenge on one of his annoying nakama, he would get the person to remove the bear from Luffy's dooly mouth to be cleaned before he woke up. The drool covered bear was never a pleasant sight but it satisfied Marco some to use it to his advantage.

"Forget walking! I can't wait until he starts to talk!" Thatch said in excitement which sparked a conversation on what Luffy's first words might be.

"Don't grow up too fast kiddo, but you can't stay too young forever…Oh the dilemma of being a brother." Thatch dramatically sighed making everyone laugh their brother was growing way to quickly but at the same time way to slowly. Though that didn't really matter at the moment, everyone was just happy to have Luffy to call their brother.

**I'm back! Is anyone tired of me yet? Let me just say you guys are my inspiration for writing! If I hadn't got so much positive feedback I would have put chapters off. :P Thanks so much everyone! Really, you guys make my day with all of this! So I kinda used my nephew as examples throughout this. :P His crawling was that way it weirded his mother out so she brought him to the doctor who told her he was just weird. I wanted Luffy to be just weird since that's Luffy :) And the pointing out body parts is what my sister-in-law does with her son as well. Oh the teething, I know Luffy will have a strong Jaw and biting is something he has been known for so I needed to put that in some where :) I also realized that I started Luffy eating solids a bit late but then again parenting doesn't come with a hand book especially when he's being raised by pirates. So I can't guarantee that I'll post chapters like this every day.. I am in school as well as volunteering now at my local humane society. I will do my best to keep up though. Yet again thanks for the great reviews please if you have anything to say about this chapter post it for me so I can improve and find more inspiration :) Have a great night everyone! xxxDR**


	4. Ma and PA

Luffy was sitting on Whitebeard lap just after lunch listening to his pops telling a story from his childhood. Luffy was now 14 months old and constantly getting into trouble. Marco needing a break plopped the brat down on the old man's lap without saying a word turned on his heels and walked away. Confused by the development but uncaring he decided to entertain the boy and see what happened. As he suspected Luffy couldn't sit still. He was squirming and grabbing at Pop's pants he looked around often and barely paid any attention to the older man.

"What are you thinking about, son? "He asked Luffy who opened his mouth before closing it looking frustrated. Pops could only raise an eye brow at the action. Luffy began to babble sounds of annoyance before pops knew he wanted down.

"And where do you think you're going brat?" He said as Luffy did his weird crawl away from his chair. Luffy paused for a moment looked at the older man then continued on his adventure.

Luffy crawled slowly around the deck before grabbing onto a railing and pulling himself up and slowly pulling himself along that for a while. Of course he could only do that for a little bit and dropped to his crawl once more. Along his little journey he had decided that he was tired of crawling and chose to roll instead.

Whitebeard was talking to one of his children and didn't see the small child slip past his feet under his chair.

"Hey has anyone seen Luffy?" Thatch asked loudly hoping everyone could hear?

"He was on my lap at least an hour ago he couldn't have gotten far." Pops said but he too was getting worried. The ship had been quiet, Luffy was never quiet.

Thatch knew if pops didn't know then Marco was sure to, racing to the man's cabin he knocked on the door only to get a very annoyed tired looking Marco.

"Is the ship burning down-yoi?" Marco growled out at Thatch who knew better than to wake Marco after an all-nighter.

"No worse, Luffy's missing." With those words all sleep and crankiness was forgotten and Marco was racing towards pop's chair.

"How long has he been missing-yoi." Everyone could hear the panic in his voice but his lazy expression remained the same.

"About 2 hours now." Teach said looking at the first commander Marco nodded in understanding.

"Everyone spread out, he couldn't have gotten far. Namur check the tides if perchance he did fall off you can find him faster than us-yoi." Namur nodded and dove into the water

Everyone was looking for the brat while pops watched his children search. His nurses had made it quite clear he was not to move from that chair until his medication had settled into him.

"'Scus me pops He might have ended up under your chair, it might not have happened but it is a possibility." Teach said getting the older man's approval to look under his chair and lo and behold was a sleeping baby.

"Zehahahahaha Look at you wanting to be close to your old man." Teach said before reaching in and waking the child. Once he had Luffy in his arms the baby broke into instant tears.

"No need to cry you're safe brat." Teach said trying to calm the kid but that just made him cry harder.

"Oi! He's been found!" He yelled out for everyone to hear. Marco was the first one to hear the large man and rushed to Luffy's side instantly.

"Luffy!" He saw the baby was crying and did an instant check over him to make sure he wasn't hurt. Seeing nothing wrong with him Marco removed the child from Teaches arms only for Luffy to break out in a smile.

"What a weird little guy aren't you" Teach said patting Luffy on the head making him once more become teary eyed.

"Huh, he seems to not like you that much…" Thatch said arriving beside Marco.

"He just doesn't know me yet…zehaha" Teach said before leaving all together.

"Where in the world were you going Lu?" Thatch asked the now happy baby that was cuddling close to Marco.

"Ma." Came from Luffy's mouth making everyone stop.

"What was that-yoi?" Marco asked the toddler.

"Ma! Ma ma ma ma ma ma!" He just said looking at Marco. Everyone didn't know if they should break out laughing or celebrate their brat's first word.

"Look! Marco shall now be known as Mama Marco!" Thatch laughed so hard he doubled over. Ignoring Thatch Marco smiled fondly at the little guy.

"Were you looking for me Luffy-yoi?" He said Luffy just responded with ma!

"Well you have had him in your care the most Marco, I'm not surprised he sees you like that" Pops said with a smile. Luffy looked right at the old man smiled and said

"Pa!"

The crew broke out in cheers; their little guy was learning to talk.

"Just watch his next few words be a vocabulary of curses." A crew member joked making everyone laugh.

"Not if I have anything to say about it –yoi!"Marco said with a smile.

"Nah it won't be like that at all. His next word will be…Yoi!" Thatch was laughing again but this time Marco didn't care Luffy was calling for him. Ever since the baby had been dropped off not once had he been out of Marco sight. Marco pulling an all-nighter to finish reports and file documents and write food lists made him extra tired and not needing a toddler to deal with. It seemed though that Luffy couldn't be without his Ma.

"You know what this calls for? A party!" Everyone cheered in excitement.

"You going to join us this time Marco?" Vista asked him with a smile "I don't mind watching the brat this time. You missed out on his birthday." Marco only shook his head.

"Nah, I like spending time with this brat and honestly watching you all get drunk is funnier than actually joining in-yoi." Luffy was closing his eyes slowly after just letting out a yawn.

"And it seems the both of us are due for nap anyways." Waving to everyone Marco headed back towards his room and placed Luffy in his crib.

"Night Lu please let me have 3 more hours and all will be good." The baby just mumbled ma and fell asleep. Marco crawled into his own bed ready to gain the hours missed so he could make fun of his family later.

**Hey guys, so I'm just about to head to class but thought I'd get this up there. Most babies don't start with huge words they usually say da or ma. I chose to go with Ma because it's short for Marco. Luffy was trying to call for Marco but can't pronounce the bigger letters yet. Also I kinda of took a bit of a suggestion from a kind reviewer! The Teach Luffy thing, I wanted to show more of how Luffy doesn't like the man. I will probably post again tonight after class but I shall see how it goes Don't forget to let me know what you think and I shall talk to you all again later :D**


	5. Gifts and Big Boys

"Where's he going with that?" Thatch asked watching Luffy walk on his little legs holding a few pieces of breakfast in his hands.

"Dunno, Luffy what cha got there little guy?" Haruta asked Luffy bending down to his level.

"Br-fas" He said to her proudly with a smile

"Breakfast for who buddy?" Thatch asked him

"Br-fas for Ma-ko" He said in his adorable words that made them laugh.

"Why don't we bring him a plate of food instead buddy." Thatch chuckled but Luffy scowled.

"Noooo! I br-ing br-fas for Ma-ko!" He turned on his heels and went straight to the said man's room.

"Ma-ko! Ma-ko!" Luffy called to the man hoping he would open the door he didn't wait long.

"What is it brat-yoi." He covered his eyes from the sun he was so tired.

"I bro br-fas!" He reached his hands out showing the pile of eggs in his little hands. Marco looked down at it in worry but knew he was stuck with it. No one says no to Luffy, it's impossible! Especially when he gives you those big brown eyes that water the moment you consider the word no.

"Thanks Luffy it looks delicious-Yoi" Luffy smiled as Marco took the eggs from his hands.

"I'll put it here for now and eat it in a bit okay?" Luffy smiled as wide as possible to Marco.

Ever since Luffy had learned to walk fully and start using more of his words he began to bring things to people, most of the time it was a toy, book or just something that belonged to another person. Mostly Marco, Thatch and Pops got the gifts and waited for the person to come and get their belongings. On other occasions people were given food from his little hands. Once one of the crew members tried to deny the food and Luffy broke into devastated tears until the member took and ate it right there and then. Sadly it was Stefan's dog kibbles, but it made the kid smile. 

6 months had passed and Luffy was now a loud 2 year old.

"Marco Marco Marco Marco Marco Marco!" Luffy came running towards him at full speed before crashing into his leg giving a hug.

"I wasn't gone that long Luffy-yoi." He chuckled and patted the little kids head.

"Did cha bring me any food!?" He asked giving the wide puppy eyes.

"No, But if you go find Thatch he might have something for you-yoi." He smiled.

"Nu-Uh, I already tried!" Luffy exclaimed dramatically. "He said to wait for dinner, so I said why?" He smiled up at Marco who just picked the little guy up.

"Did you eat all of your Lunch?" Luffy nodded with his smile.

"But it wasn' enough!" Marco ruffled his hair with a smile Luffy had moved on from baby foods to full grown meals just as quickly as he had learned to run.

"You're growing too quickly little brother, but you're still a shrimp to me –yoi." Luffy hit his fist against Marco's chest.

"Nu-uh! Imma big boy now! I two!" Marco Laughed

"Oh? And two makes you a big boy?" Thatch asked coming out of nowhere and tickling Luffy who was trapped in Marco's arms.

"Stop Thatchy!" Luffy laughed before Marco put him down and he was off.

"You were able to say not to him-yoi?" Marco asked his friend before he went to chase after the kid.

"I didn't look in his eyes. The kid can't get everything he want's Marco. He needs to learn that the world will reject him even once in a while. If we spoil him rotten he'll never grow." Thatch may be the goof on the ship but he knew what was best right now.

"Also, have you seen how much he eats!? If I said yes I'd be cooking the rest of the afternoon!" Thatch laughed before he raced after the little boy who had stopped to look back at them.

"Sometimes I forget just where he is, we're Lucky there haven't been any major fights either-yoi." Marco trailed off while walking towards pop's chair.

"We have been Lucky. We can stay close to safe waters for now but soon enough he'll have to be trained. There may come a time we won't be there for him, he needs to know how to protect himself." Pop's said to Marco who had jumped up to sit on the edge of the older man's chair.

"Sometimes I wish he'd never grow up but other times I can't wait to see what he'll become-yoi." Marco smiled at his father.

"He'll be a force to be reckoned with someday that's for sure. A man who won't ever take no for an answer GURARARA!" Marco couldn't help but laugh along with his father.

"I'm glad he'll be one of us then-yoi." He smiled looking out towards the sea listening to Luffy's laughter ring across the waves.

"He's going to be big someday, he going to be strong. Strong enough to change everything…I can just feel it-yoi."

"I can't wait." Was all the old man said and they fell into a comfortable silence listening to the crew around them, their family, and their home.

**Hey there everyone! So a new chapter yay! My fingers refuse to type what I want today so I'm only giving a shorter chapter. Sorry! So my teacher has just nailed me with an 18 page essay (Literately 18 pages min.) due this Monday -_-; So I'm about to drown in homework (again) So for this chapter I wanted to show that yes Lu is growing but he needs to grow faster. Pirate life isn't easy and these guys are the freaking White Beard crew so it's not going to be forever peaceful! I wanted to give Marco's perspective a bit more as bringing things to them is actually what my nephew does to me :) Luffy will be uping from baby to a bit older in the next few chapters so get ready for the adorableness known as hyper child Luffy. Any ways going to go drown myself in more work so bye for now! xxxDR**


	6. Don' Wanna! and Needles

It was just before dinner when a loud crash could be heard below deck, a bunch of swearing was heard quickly afterwards and a naked four year old was running past everyone to hide behind Pops.

"LUFFY!" Thatch had yelled running after the fast kid. "Stop hiding behind Pops and take your bath!" Thatch was soaking wet and covered in bubbles his shirt missing and he was only wearing a pair of shorts.

"Don' wanna Thatchy!" He shouted and stuck his tongue out at the man Luffy climbed up to Pop's lap hoping he was safe there. Luffy had been painting 2 hours previously and made quite a mess. Messes needed to be cleaned up and Luffy needed a bath.

"Luffy, you're dripping rainbows all over Pop's chair! Don't make me climb up there!" Thatch was serious and Luffy knew this so he snuggled into the older man a little closer.

"Luffy, Listen to your brother." The old man said patting his head with his large hand.

"Don' wanna!"He looked up at Pops giving the big eyes thankfully whitebeard knew to look away.

"If you don't get down here I'll tell Marco what all that paint was for!" Thatch said to the boy who turned his head quickly his eyes widened.

"Nu uh! You said you wouldn't! You helped!" He shouted to his brother before he wiped the yellow off his nose.

"You did most of the work!" Thatch argued with the kid.

"But you still helped!" Luffy shouted back the argument went for a bit longer before Thatch realized he was arguing with a four year old.

"Screw it; you're getting your bath!" Thatch had planned to climb up there but Luffy started to climb higher.

"Luffy, why don't we make a deal. You take a bath now and I'll tell you a story right afterwards." Pops said to the kid who stopped climbing to listen to him.

"Story now, bath later?" Luffy asked him but Whitebeard shook his head.

"Bath now story after, your brother is right you're dripping a rainbow everywhere, go and be fast son." Pops said picking the boy up and giving him to Thatch.

Luffy grumbled but accepted his fate for this week.

"Be fast Thatchy! I want story now!" He demanded to his brother who rolled his eyes and thanked his pops. Once Thatch had Luffy down below deck everyone thought they'd have quiet for a few moments at least while the brat was being bathed, how wrong they were.

"THATCH-YOI!" Marco yelled before stomping towards the main deck.

"Where is he-yoi!" He glared at everyone who knew better than to fight an angry Marco.

"Better question, where's Luffy?" He looked towards pops and saw the paint.

"He was here wasn't he-yoi?" He stated and waited for a crew member to answer him.

"He's giving the brat a bath, he's covered in paint. I'm guessing you know why he is like that." Vista asked from the railing he was leaning against.

"Yeah he painted my room every color he could find. I'm guessing he had Thatch's help since the paints everywhere and Luffy only has a limited reach-yoi." He stated unhappily before walking towards the bathroom to confront his prankster brothers.

"Never for a moment can we get quiet around here.." Another crew mate said but he voiced it with fondness for no one would have it any other way.

Luffy was in tears this time and Marco was trying not to laugh.

"It's just a little prick and it will be all over-yoi."Marco said while trying to hide his smile.

"I don' wanna!" Luffy shouted at the nurse trying to calm him down while Marco sat in a chair beside him.

"Luffy, you need to get your big boy needles so you don't get sick." The nurse said kindly to him.

"I don' Wanna!" He repeated only louder.

"Just where in the world did he learn that phrase!?" Thatch murmured getting tired of Luffy new favourite words.

"I wish I knew –yoi." Marco said rubbing his forehead but still smiling.

"Luffy how about this, get your big boy needle and I'll give you some candy." Thatch said to the kid making him smile but Marco wanted nothing to do with that.

"If you give him sugar he's yours. I can't deal with a hyper Luffy-yoi." Marco said after learning his lesson the last time Lu had sugar.

"Not going to help me are you?" Thatch asked him with a crooked grin.

"Nope, this one's all yours. I haven't forgiven you yet for my room-yoi." He said side glancing at the man.

"Marco is a cranky bastard!" Luffy cheered then scowled as the nurse gave him the needle.

"And just where did he learn that one-yoi?" This time Marco was fully facing a now sweating Thatch.

"Thatch said that! Then we painted your room!" Luffy told the man while Thatch paled.

"Luffy! You weren't supposed to say that!" He whined to the child.

"Oops." He giggled and took the sucker from the nurse before bolting out the door. Marco sighed before slapping his friend on the back of the head.

"Whatever. Go get the brat. I wasn't kidding when I said he's yours to deal with-yoi." Marco stood up and walked out of the room.

The kid was bouncing off the walls after that little of sugar, never again. Once the candy was gone it was not coming back. Marco planned to write that down in his books to constantly remind himself.

"Wait up Marco! I was thinking it's about time we start teaching him to swim." Thatch ran to catch up with his friend. Marco raised his eyes brow further.

"He's four now that's a perfect age to start. I mean he's normal like me and not a freak like you so he should be able to learn." Thatch said off handily making Marco close his eyes in annoyance.

"And why am I the freak in all of this? Have you seen how normal you actually aren't –Yoi!?" Marco said before walking faster away.

"So you don't think it's a good idea?" He asked Marco who just sighed.

"I never said that-yoi. I'll talk with Namur you talk with Pops, sound good?" Thatch smiled and ran off to find Luffy and Pops.

"Never a dull moment around here is it-yoi?" He said smiling he'll be five in a few months kids really do grow up too fast don't they? He couldn't help but let his smile grow. "Maybe we should start teaching him to fight as well…" He thought out loud another reminder to write in his book, oh well it's not like he's that busy running his division or anything. With that he headed towards his cabin to finish his work.

**Hey there, honestly don't know if this is a good chapter or not, it's been a super long week -_-; Ah well, Luffy is growing Faster! As much as I love him being a baby I want him to start growing, start becoming independent and a bit crazier. Luffy is known to hate needles and anything that makes him uncomfortable so that brought me to the big boy needles :) and he hates baths since he will be a fruit user. I know this is following a new world where Lu is on the Moby Dick but I still kinda want to keep things normal and not so normal (yeah I know a contradiction) Luffy will eat the Gomu Gome no mi. Spoiler!(But not really..)I like that fruit and I think it suits him. I've had a few questions about Ace and Sabo; yeah I do plan to work them in somehow. I'm working on a few ideas but it won't be for a bit. Please, please do remember this is an AU. I am following a lot of normal Op stuff but I will be changing things as I go. If the story followed every op awesomeness that already existed that would be boring. Anyways, I'll let you guys go, Thanks again for the kind reviews and all the alerting and favouiting! It means more to me then you all know! -xxxDR**


	7. Romance Dawn Part1

"He actually sinks. Like an anchor." Thatch had said from where he was standing.

"Maybe we're not teaching him right-yoi?" Marco said watching the boy sink yet again.

"Namur's teaching him, he's a fishman. No one swims better than a fishman. Namur's teaching him right, Luffy just isn't getting it." Izou said from beside Thatch watching his little brother being saved by the fishman once again.

"It's been two years he should at least know how to float!" Thatch exclaimed throwing his hands in the air for extra dramatic effect.

Marco sighed before looking down at his little brother.

"We can deal with that later we need to get him back on the ship-yoi. We have visitors coming." With that he stood up and signaled Namur that the lessons were over.

"Who's coming?" Thatch asked seriously a visitor could mean anything.

"Akagami Shanks. No clue why he just wants to meet with pops-yoi." He said but Thatch could feel the tension around him. Marco didn't like Shanks all that much.

Once out of the water Luffy was towel dried and new clothes put on him.

"Ne, why did we end early? I know I'm bad but I could have gone a lot longer!" He wanted to swim so badly but his body refused to work for him.

"We have someone coming to visit brat, be on your best behaviour." Namur said before taking the towel and drying Luffy's head.

"Visitor! I've never had one before! Who!?" Luffy shouted excitedly grabbing onto Namur's hand making the fishman smile.

"Someone strong so stay by Marco's side and listen to him, alright?" He said to the brat but knew it went right over his head.

By the time Luffy was dried off the crew was starting to gather around pop's chair. Luffy went running straight to Marco and bombarded him with questions that the man tried to answer as best as he could.

"So is he as strong as Pops?" Luffy said excitedly Marco chuckled at that.

"Well he has the same title as Pops, but I wouldn't ever say he's stronger." Marco smiled to the brat. Luffy had a way to taking away all the tension in the air making the crew feel more relaxed. Soon enough the red force came into view and Luffy was jumping so much Marco just decided to pick him up.

"Permission to come aboard?" Shanks asked from his ship whitebeard just nodded and the red haired man jumped across.

"Sorry but this is still a rival ship, I can't let my guard down." He said before releasing a wave of haki. Quite a few of the many division members collapsed around the man as he carried a large bottle of sake towards the captain.

"Oi Akagami! Watch your haki; you could have hurt someone-yoi!" Marco knew by speaking out he was drawing attention towards him and consequently Luffy.

"I can never be too careful. Ne Marco, Wanna join my crew?" Shanks asked with a smile looking towards the blond man but his eyes widened at the child in his arms.

"Never, I'm good here-yoi." He said giving the emperor a glare and holding Luffy tighter.

"Who's the brat?" Shanks asked his voice growing tighter. Luffy looked at Shanks with wide brown eyes. Somehow Luffy had managed to get past the wave of haki Shanks had released moments before completely unfazed by it.

"I'm Luffy!" He said wiggling around in a way to tell Marco he wanted down but Marco wasn't going to let him go so easily.

"I didn't think you'd take a child out to sea Whitebeard." Shanks said sternly to the older man.

"He's been with us since birth brat, we knew the risks." Whitebeard replied looking down at Shanks.

"Noooo! No fighting!" Luffy had bitten Marco and in his surprise he dropped the kid.

"Don't be mean to Pops!" He said giving Shanks a glare which ended up failing miserably making shanks laugh at him.

"But that's what pirates do, we fight!" Shanks said to the kid who smiled a bit.

"Uh huh! But don't be mean! Marco doesn't like me seeing people be mean! He'll get cranky and become a bastard!" He said to Shanks who broke out laughing.

"No wonder you keep the kid on board! He's hilarious!" He smiled down at Luffy

"What's your dream Kid?" He asked Luffy who just looked at Shanks like he was an idiot.

"I'm gunna be a Pirate! Stronger than Marco, stronger than pops, and stronger than you!" He smiled at Shanks as the man's eyes widened he subconsciously touched his straw hat then looked towards whitebeard only to see a wide smile on the older man's face.

"Luffy, why don't we let the captains talk?" Thatch said taking Lu's hand and leasing him away from Shanks.

"But I wanna stay with my new friend!" He whined to his brother.

"How about this, I go and make you a nice snack and we draw some pictures for the captains for later. Sound good?" Thatch said trying to get the brat to listen.

"Mmm!" He agreed taking Thatch's hand and nodding towards Marco who sighed and watched them disappear below deck.

"Why are you here brat?" Whitebeard asked Shanks who sat down.

"There's a bunch of new rookies heading your way. They bothered us a bit but we sent them packing, I'm afraid they didn't seem to learn their lesson. Thought I'd warn you before they hit, rumors have been going around that you've been sticking to safe waters. I wanted to know why so I came to also get that question answered, guess I got it." He smiled at the memory of that kid.

"A child Whitebeard? You know it's not safe on these seas!" He said to the older man who smiled softly.

"Ay, I agree brat. I was called upon a meeting with the kid's father 6 years ago and he sprung upon me a brat. I don't regret it, I've watched him grow. He'll make his dream a reality and then he'll make it larger than that." He smiled off in the distance.

"I like the kid we should have a party!" He shouted making his own crew shout in agreement on his own ship. While the captains talked Luffy had drawn pictures of his pops, Marco, Shanks, and anything else he could think of while stuffing his face with food.

"Can we go back now Thatchy? I wanna see the new guy!" He complained once he finished eating everything around him.

"Hmm I guess it's been a bit we should be able to go up now. Alright brat lets go." Thatch said getting a cheer from the kid.

He took Luffy's hand leading him back up to the group. Who would have thought that this emperor coming this day would spark a new dream into a young child, and the day was only beginning…

**Hey there again guys! so Shanks! This is part 1. I have it all planned out for shanks it's just needing to be in sections because it's a lot to work with. Shanks is a huge role model to Luffy and will remain so. Luffy does love his family Shanks is the first person outside of them to give him a dream. I'm asked about Sabo yeah I plan to leave him alive because he is alive :)(spoiler but I think the anime shows him now so I think I'm safe there.) Garp I have plans everyone :D I mentioned chapter 1 that dragon said he told Garp of his grandson. That doesn't mean he said where the kid is. I have wonderful ways of him finding out ^_^ Ace, Sabo and Garp will make appearances in the story don't worry :D I'm spacing it all out though. If I just shove them in it might look sloppy so I want them to come as they come :) It will be more fun knowing they are coming but not knowing when :) And the way that I've been updating you may all not have to wait too long :P All I ask is be patient and good things will come ^^. **

**Once again I honestly thank EVERYONE for the kind reviews the amount of alerts on this story has just blown my mind! You are the reason I post so quickly! With out your support I would not be doing this well. So once again thank you! _(^ ^)_ (Bows) If there are any questions I do reply to people in PM because It's easier for me to talk with you all that way. If you have any questions, comments or just want to talk please feel free to PM me as well :) xxxDR**


	8. Romance Dawn Part2

"Oi, what are you doing Anchor?" Shanks said to Luffy who had been exploring the red force with the captain.

"I'm going to prove to you I'm as strong as any pirate!" Luffy exclaimed holding a knife in his hands.

"Right, you're just a brat still, come on down and I'll get you a glass of juice." Shanks said to Luffy who just glared at the captain.

"I'll prove it!" He steadied his hands and pointed the knife towards his face. Shanks laughed and dared him to do something hoping the kid actually wouldn't. Luffy did, he stabbed himself just below his left eye blood coming from the wound and Luffy screaming made everyone stand on edge and Shanks panicked.

"You dumb ass!" He shouted and ran towards the kid picking him up and throwing the knife on the ground a chorus of _Shit_ racing through his head. Using his shirt he tried to stop the bleeding while calling his doctor to fix the mess. Luffy ended up getting two stiches but he didn't lose his eye.

"It didn't hurt at all." Luffy said proudly while Marco was giving Shanks a lecture.

"Right, then what were those tears for?" Shanks teased tuning Marco out who was completely pissed off.

"How did he even get the knife in the first place –yoi?!" He said to Shanks who rolled his eyes and turned back to Marco to argue his case. During that time Luffy began to look around.

"Ne Luffy, that was pretty crazy of you! You could have hurt yourself worse! The captain was really worried about you." Yasopp said to Luffy bringing his attention back the kid just rolled his eyes.

"Then why does he make fun of me?!" He argued to the sniper.

"Because he cares and he doesn't know how to deal with children. If you were my son Usopp I would have handled it much differently! You know you're about the same age as my boy! I left him back with my wife in a small village in the East Blue. You and him would get along well I can see it! He looks just like my wife even got her nose!" Yasopp laughed and continued on about his son. Luffy listened for a while but got bored and decided to look around the Galley.

"I'm hungry…" He muttered to himself Ben had stepped in hoping to calm the phoenix down before he killed the captain and Yasopp had grabbed one of his Nakama aside to continue his talk about Usopp.

"Ne what's this?" Luffy said opening a small trunk that had been set aside in the galley of the red force. Seeing it was a medium sized fruit and his stomach was growling he shrugged his shoulders and took a bite. If his stomach wasn't growling so loudly he would have spat the fruit out, but food was food and never to be wasted. Thatch had taught him to eat everything on his plate, not like he needed to be taught that though.

"Oi Luffy whatcha doing over there?" Lucky asked realizing that the kid had been too quiet. Getting Luffy's attention he smiled back at the man.

"Eating, but this food tastes nasty!" He said in return making the cook realize what Luffy had been eating.

"Oi-oi!" he shouted making Marco and Shanks look his way their brows raised.

"Captain I think we have a problem…Luffy just ate our devil fruit!" He said making both men pale then panic.

Shanks was the first to react he jumped up grabbing Luffy turning him upside down and shook him trying to get him to spit up the fruit.

"Throw it up, spit it up I don't care just get it all out of your stomach brat!" while he was shaking Luffy his legs stretched and the kid face planted the floor. Shanks paled further while Marco just rubbed his forehead in annoyance, it was one thing after another.

"What devil fruit was it-yoi?" Marco asked his head in his hands Luffy took notice of Marco tone and got worried.

"The Gomu Gomu no mi. He's now a rubber human." Shanks said with a sigh making Luffy feel worse. When Shanks put him down Luffy looked at his two friends and saw they were upset he felt awful.

"What are the people going to think of him now, those who have the powers of a devil fruit are often looked down upon-yoi." Marco said to Shanks who nodded his head in understanding.

"He'll be seen as a freak or a monster in some communities. Life will get harder." Shanks replied without thinking making Luffy tear up. Before anyone had realized it Luffy bolted from the room reminding the two men that he was even there in the first place. He raced past the Akagami crew ran over the board connecting the two ships and ran past his family straight towards his father.

When Luffy jumped into the older man's lap and began to cry whitebeard raised his brow in confusion and worry.

"What has happened, my son?" He said Luffy just cried harder but the older man was patient.

"M-M-Marco said that no one would like me because I'm different! And S-S-Shanks said that I'll be called a m-m-monster or a freak." He cried again this time Whitebeard wanted some answers. Marco came flying in and landed right in front of his pops.

"Is he okay-yoi?" Marco asked seeing Luffy was on the man's lap.

"He's told me quite the story. Care to explain?" Pops asked Marco who looked down in shame.

"We spoke without thinking. Sometimes it's hard to remember that he's a child-yoi." Marco started looking at the kid.

"He ate a devil fruit, the gomu gomu no mi-yoi."Marco said making whitebeard understand now.

"Luffy, your brother didn't mean to hurt you." The older man said to the child who looked up at him slightly. "He was worried about how people outside of the crew might think of you, not how we think of you." He said this time Luffy sat up to look at his father.

"So I'm not a m-monster?" He asked softly to the older man.

"GURARARARA, You're no more a monster than Marco or myself brat." This time Luffy looked down at Marco who turned his arm into a flaming blue wing for Luffy to see.

"Pops, Jozu, and I are just a few of those who have devil fruit powers on this crew. You're just a new addition-yoi." Marco said smiling up at his brother Luffy smiled in return.

"Ne Luffy, as an apology would you like to fly?" Marco asked him with a wide smile Luffy looked up towards pops for permission before jumping into Marco's open arms.

"Mmm" He said making the men chuckle. Marco swung Luffy from his arms to his back with the kid's arms around his neck telling him to hold on tight before turning himself into his full phoenix form.

Taking off Luffy felt the wind through his hair but the warmth of Marco made him feel safe. The Moby Dick and the Red Force turned to small ships from above Luffy learned at that moment that he loved to fly. Marco smiled as the child was left breathe less from everything that was happening he should have shown Luffy this sooner.

They flew for a few hours Marco enjoyed stretching his wings it had been so long since he flew so care free and Luffy's weight felt like nothing on his strong back. By the time they returned back to the ship Shanks was packing up and ready to leave.

"Shanks, sorry for running off like that and eating your devil fruit." Luffy said to the man who patted his head in understanding.

"I'm sorry for yelling at you and saying mean things." He said in return.

"I'm going to miss you." He said to shanks making the captain smile.

"You're going to be a pirate right? What kind of pirate will you be? Are you going to stay here? Someday be a commander? Or will you someday come join my crew?" He asked Luffy who looked up at Shanks before smiling a mischievous grin.

"Someday, I'm going to find a crew stronger than yours, stronger than Pop's and I'll become the Pirate King!" He shouted for both crews to hear.

"Oh? So you want to surpass us eh?" Shanks asked the kid who nodded his head a look of pure confidence on his face. Shanks took his straw hat off his head looked at it for a moment smiled and placed it on Luffy's head.

"Then someday when you become a great pirate, return this hat to me in great condition. This Hat is very important to me Luffy. That's our promise." Luffy began to cry at the amount of faith Shanks was giving to him. Luffy would treasure this hat from this day forth.

"He's going to be big someday." Ben Said to shanks with a smile that Shanks returned.

"I know, I can't wait." He said before the anchor was lifted and the red force sailed off. A pair of hands came up and pulled the boy close.

"Looks like we got another anchor on the crew" Thatch said releasing Luffy from his hug.

"I'll learn to swim still! " He said pulling his new hat tighter on his head.

"Didn't anyone tell you? Those who eat the devil fruits are cursed by the sea! They will never ever swim!" Thatch said dramatically making Luffy open his mouth is shock.

"Well I'll be strong enough that I won't need to swim!" He shouted and ran off making everyone laugh in response.

"Our little brat's growing up." Thatch said with a mock tear in his eye.

"Yeah pretty soon he'll want to join in on our battles." Namur said slightly annoyed at all the work he put in to teach the kid to swim was gone.

"Not yet-yoi. He's got a long way to go before he can make his promise come true. The king of the pirates. Just what kind of brat are we raising?" Marco said shaking his head with a smile.

"The best kind." Thatch replied laughing.

**Once again I'm back ^^. So I got this out faster than I thought I would! Shanks is complete :D I wanted to make a few things remain the same but a few things different. Shanks's arm, There were no bandits out at sea so no one to kidnap luffy and try and feed him to the sea king. I thought about Luffy trying to prove he could swim by jumping over board a sea king showing up and shanks doing a I'll save you! But scratched that idea all together. Shanks shall keep his arm but he still lost his hat :D Luffy can't be the Pirate King with out his scar or his hat! I had fun writing out the knife thing Lu needs his awesome face scar that's just who he is! :D I almost forgot about Usopp being mentioned! I actually had to go back and add him in :D Luffy recognized Usopp later on because Yasopp had talked about his son. I wanted that to remain the same :)(Hints for a sequel maybe? ;) ) Any ways the next few chapters are not going to be as exciting as shanks but will still be cute and Luffy like. Lu needs to grow a bit slower now that I have Shanks finished. :D He needs to learn a bit about his powers, his limitations and start becoming his own person not just a baby or even a toddler. He's going to be at an age where he want's to make his own decisions. Any ways time for me to head to bed it's 1 am (The things I do for a new chapter :) ) Thanks again everyone! I'll see how my mind is again tomorrow to write another :PxxxDR**


	9. Luffy's First SnowmanI Mean Snow Crew

"Thatchy! Thatch! Thattttccchhhhyyyyy!"

"What brat!?" It was early in the morning and the cooks hadn't yet started breakfast so Thatch saw no plausible reason to be woken up.

"The sun's out!" Luffy said excitedly jumping around the older man's bed.

"Then go wake up Marco, I'm still sleeping..." He mumbled trying to close his eyes from the light coming through his now open door.

"I tried but he said to go bug you!" Luffy said stomping his foot in irritation Thatch groaned making plans for pineapple chicken to be on the menu at dinner time. He realized now that it was quite cold in his room making him pull his blanket up and tighter.

"Come play Thatchy!" Luffy said trying to pull off his blankets making the straw hat fall on the ground. Luffy panicked when it fell making the man open his eyes to realize Luffy was only in his underwear and a tank top shirt in this cold room.

"Play later, aren't you cold bud?" Thatch said with one eye open, he hated the fact he was starting to wake up.

"Hmmm... I'm cold!" He shouted suddenly wrapping his arms around himself after putting his straw hat back on his head. Thatch Laughed softly and opened the blankets for the kid to climb into. Once in Luffy snuggled up to Thatch and chattered about everything before falling promptly asleep himself making the man smile, the kid was never boring that he could say.

"Oi, you guys getting up any time soon-yoi?" Marco asked standing inside of Thatch's room looking at the pair all wrapped up in their blanket.  
>"Do we have-ta?" Thatch wined hugging Luffy tighter the kid was a heater he needed to have the kid sleep over more often!<p>

"You'll miss breakfast." Marco said knowing the effect it would have.

"Don't eat all the meat!" Luffy shouted waking up immediately while throwing his hands in the air punching Thatch In the chin while making Marco smile in amusement.

"We are so having pineapple chicken for dinner tonight." Thatch said in annoyance as his heater jumped into Marco's arms.

"Let's get you dressed brat it's cold outside." Marco said to the smiling and drooling child.

"Chicken…" He muttered before realizing Marco had said something "Cold? I was cold earlier! Why's it cold?" He chattered to the man who was looking towards Thatch.

"He still has some clothes in here right? I don't plan to bring him out in what he's wearing now-yoi."Marco said to Thatch who was rubbing his chin.  
>"Yeah, yeah in the top drawer." He pointed out getting a nod from Marco as he searched for suitable clothing for the 6 year old.<p>

"It's cold out because we're nearing a winter island-yoi."Marco could literally see the sparkles in the kid's eyes.

"Amazing!" He shouted while lifting his arms for Marco to pull the shirt over him.

"Does that mean snow?" Thatch asked putting on his own clothing Marco just smiled.

"Well let's got get breakfast-yoi." He said making the now fully clothed and straw hatted child jump back into his arms.

Opening the door Luffy's eyes widened at the white snow that covered the deck. He wanted to touch it but Marco held a firm grip on the kid.

"After we eat you can play all you want-yoi." He said smiling at the kid knowing that no matter what his stomach would win out every time.

"Mn." He said Thatch laughed at him.

When they got to the galley the commanders listened to Luffy talk about how excited he was for the snow all while shoveling down enough food to feed a grown man. Once he finished he grabbed Thatch's hand and dragged him outside to play with him.

Thatch loved snow for as long as he could remember he's loved it for its beauty and playfulness. He started to roll the snow into balls confusing Luffy.

"What-cha doin' Thatchy?" Luffy tilted his head in question.

"I'm about to teach you the mastery of making snowmen!" Thatch grinned while still rolling his ball.

"Snow man?! So cool!" Luffy shouted the stars returning to his eyes. He helped build that snowman with Thatch making the snow man look like Thatch himself.

Luffy deciding he needed more snowmen so the Thatch snowman wouldn't be lonely he ran back into the galley only to return with Jozu and Marco in toe. He made them help build snowmen with him. When Jozu tried to back out Luffy gave him the puppy eyes, he was finished from there. Before anyone really knew it the commanders were out making snowmen with Luffy while pop's sat on his throne watching his children having fun. That was until Marco threw the first snow ball.

Looking at the commander he hit with a lazy grin he ducked as one was sent his way in return. Suddenly a ginormous snow ball fight had broken out among the crew. Whitebeard even stepped in to play with everyone under the conditions that when his nurses said enough it would be. Luffy was shorter than everyone else making it both hard and easy to throw at the same time. Pop's finding Luffy picked the kid up putting him on his shoulders and passing snow balls up to him to throw.

Everyone was laughing by dinner time when they were all called in for food and cups of hot chocolate. Though most of the crew had a bit of alcohol in their drinks Luffy loved the taste of his with milk. After dinner Luffy went out to play once more his jacket and snow pants covered new pants and a sweater to keep him warmer as the temperature dropped.

When Marco and Thatch went to check on him though knowing he was safe pops was out there. They found him asleep in the middle of making his 13th snow angel. They smiled and picked him up bringing him to his room for the night. Thatch let Marco finish putting the kid to bed, it was only fair, he woke up with the kid so Marco could get the good nights.

Placing a kiss on Luffy's forehead he whispered good night and placed the straw hat on the desk before closing the door. He walked over and wished his father good night as he himself headed for bed. Who knew a 6 year old could make the snow sparkle brighter than ever.

**Hey I'm back..sorta...I've been super tired lately and writing when tired is hard. I've got a lot of assignments due this week and certificate training this weekend. School is trying to kill me I swear it! I love snow and hate it at the exact same time( Canadian! Where is snows so often we're know for it!). I wanted Luffy to experience a new island but I don't think his protective brothers are ready for him just yet to go exploring , but that's coming up! I've got plans ahead for what's to come so don't give up on me now everyone! I just want to thank all of you who fav, alert and even review to this story! I plan to write as often as I can :) If you like this chapter please leave me a review :D Thanks again everyone! xxxDR**


	10. First Island First Rejections

It was Luffy's first island adventure and he was practically vibrating with excitement. The moment Marco said he could come with him to order the food supplies he jumped around the ship telling everyone he could trap. When the ship docked Marco looked to his division and warned them about causing trouble and the consequences it would have if they did. Luffy wasn't waiting he grabbed Marco's hand and started to tug giving the man a look of excitement and impatience.

"Come on Marco! I wanna go now!" Luffy said with a hint of annoyance Marco's speech was cutting into his adventure time.

"Alright, alright let's go brat. You need to hold my hand though okay-Yoi?" He said earning a smile and a frantic nodding of a little straw hatted head. Thatch had wandered off on the island saying something about pretty girls and not needing to disappoint but Luffy didn't pay much attention to him his own excitement keeping him occupied.

Marco was being dragged towards the buzzing town where Luffy had seen a few of the other crew members wander towards in excitement that was contagious.

"Our first stop is to place the order-yoi. Try and be good in the shop alright?" He asked the kid who was just smiling looking at everything around him.

When they arrived at the shop the store owner came running out to greet them. Luffy not one to be shy said his hellos before he started to run around the shop exploring while he could. The workers chased him around begging the kid not to touch anything important or break anything.

The owner paid all his attention to Marco who told him what was needed and gave the list out as a reminder. Once Marco had finished paying for the supplies he thanked the owner who bowed rather deeply to the commander who just waved it off then called Luffy down from the top shelf.

Luffy hearing Marco call for him jumped into the man's arms and laughed. The workers seemed thankful to watch the boy go but Luffy waved his goodbyes and thanked them for playing with him, Marco couldn't stop the laugh at the child's innocence.

They moved from store to store buying supplies and giving lists out to different people to get ready before they left in the few days. Luffy was having fun spending his time with Marco but saw a few children playing in the streets. Luffy had never seen other children before so he was a bit curious as to what it might be like to talk to them.

Pulling on Marco's sleeve to get his attention he pointed out the kids and asked if he could go play with them. Marco taking the opportunity to let Luffy have time with other children his age agreed to let him play as long as he didn't go anywhere. Marco heading into his next shop watched as Luffy wandered off to introduce himself couldn't help but smile his little brother was starting to grow up. If Luffy was really planning on gathering a crew someday he knew that he would have to let him go and meet new people. To learn to trust others like he trusted them, shaking his head he called over the shop keeper.

Luffy was actually feeling a bit nervous about talking to them he had never met anyone his age and didn't know just what to say to them. He took a deep breath and smiled saying hello.

The kids looked up startled that someone they didn't know was talking to them.

"I'm Luffy! Can I play with you guys?" They all looked at each other before smiling.

"Sure, Kid." One said holding a ball under his arm.

"We're about to play soccer, know how to play?" Another boy asked with a grin Luffy shook his head and tried to listen to the instructions but only coming to grips of it being a mystery game. The boys looked at each other confused but let it go. Once gathered into teams the boys kicked past each other trying to score goals.

Luffy catching the ball and because he watched what the other kids did he figured it would be cool to show off and score a goal of his own. He stretched his leg back past everyone bringing it back hitting the ball sending it flying into the goalie kid making him fly back and hit a wall with an oof.

Everyone froze before suddenly a few kids ran towards the one that got hurt. Luffy moved towards the kid to apologize but was pushed down.

"What a freak!" One kid shouted towards him.

"He hurt Joe! Monsters should be kept away from others!" Another kid said glaring at Luffy.

"Did you see what he did with his leg?!" A voice said in fear.

"He's more than a monster he's a demon!" A voice said with more fear lining it. Luffy looked around in panic, his body shaking.

"I-I-I didn't mean to… It was an accident!" He said to them but the oldest kid who was closest to him just glared at him.  
>"Get out of here you freak! There's no place for a creature like you!" He shouted in fear and anger Luffy just got up and ran. He ran to the shop Marco was in and latched himself to the man's leg. Looking down at the sudden pressure Marco smiled before putting his hand on Luffy's head only to feel him shaking. The smile dropped instantly.<p>

"Ma.. Can we go home now..." He whispered calling Marco by his childish Nick-name making Marco worry more. He bent down and looked Luffy in the eyes seeing the tears ready to fall he said he would be back later to the owner picked the boy up and headed back to the Moby Dick. The kids were all gone from the area.

Luffy was silent the whole way home Marco cuddled him close until the shaking stopped but the sadness didn't leave.

"Do you want to talk about it-yoi?" He asked Luffy once he was back on the ship Luffy just shook his head no looking towards the ground. Marco didn't press on; Luffy would talk when he was ready.

Once dinner rolled around the crew mates had made their way back to the ship each laughing telling stories of their time there. Luffy was silent and picked at his food not really interested in it at all.

"Common brat, eat your food! It'll get cold and we don't waist on this ship!" Thatch said to Luffy expecting him to react in the usual goofy way but was severely disappointed when Luffy just lowered his head his hat covering his eyes.

"I'm not hungry." He said quietly but the amount of forks that dropped and mouths that opened made up for the noise. Even whitebeard went still and began to analyze his youngest son.

"What's wrong with him?! Is he sick? Did he eat something bad on the island?!" Thatch was all in the kids face checking him looking him over feeling his head only to be brushed off.

"Luffy? What's wrong-yoi?" Marco said no longer able to keep quiet. The tears Luffy had been holding back for a while started to fill his eyes again. He gripped the table and tried to look away. Everyone was watching him not really sure what to expect, when Luffy did look up again he had a smile on his face and laughed.

"Nothing's wrong! I'm just not that hungry today." He stated in a forced voice that made the crew present frown deeply. It was Pops who got up and knelt down in front of the kid.

"What has happened, my son?" He said softly Luffy trying to keep his smile on just shook his head but a tear slipped past his defence. White beard picked the kid up and excused himself from the galley knowing Luffy needed to be alone.

Bringing Luffy to his room he placed him on the bed and sat down waiting for him to talk, he didn't wait long.

"I-I saw kids playing… I wanted to play to!" he sniffed more tears coming Whitebeard just nodded his head remaining silent listening.

"They wanted to play a-a game with a b-ball and I saw how they k-kicked it so I thought I'd try too!" He said through his tears taking another sniff he continued.

"I thought if I showed them my new powers they would t-think it was c-cool! B-but I hurt one of them!" He cried Whitebeard nodded in sadness he knew how hard it was to control a devil fruit power in the beginning.

"Pa, am I a monster?" He whispered his eyes wide open in fear whitebeard wasn't going to have any of that.

"You're not, you're the furthest thing from a monster. " He said simply to the kid who looked up towards his father.

"Do you think you're a monster?" He let the boy think for a moment before he shook his head as no. Whitebeard smiled at him.

"Then you are not. " He said again the kid looked at him still.

"T-they said there was no place for me to belong. I don't want to be alone!" He said Whitebeard was getting annoyed at those kids. How dare they treat his son like this?

"You belong here. You are my son and I will always love you." He said making Luffy smile for the first time that night getting into the bed he let Luffy lay his head against his chest.

"Do you know the story of the Pirate King?" He asked the cuddling boy.

"Shanks said something about him but not much." He mumbled.

"Well, let me tell you the story of the man who became the King of the Pirates." He began his tale and by the end of it Luffy fell asleep. A knock was made on his door calling for them to come in softly Marco and Thatch entered looking worried.

"Is he okay-yoi?" Marco asked first looking softly towards the sleeping child on his father's chest.

"He was rejected by the other children." Was all the older man said making Thatch curse and Marco frowned.

"But Luffy is kind, sure he's excitable but not mean by far-yoi!" Marco defended making the older man smile towards his sons.

"He used his fruit power saying he hurt one by accident." Thatch looked sad.

"That's the cure of the devil fruits. Can't swim and people fear you; thank god I haven't found one!" He said shaking his head.

"He'll need us to bring his confidence back up." Thatch said softly now

"He'll be fine. Those kids weren't worthy of his friendship anyways. Someday he'll find the right people. People that will accept and love him for who he is, devil fruit or not. And when he does we'll welcome them-yoi." Marco said smiling.

"He's going to be the pirate king after all, right pops?" Thatch said with a grin that made the older man smile.

"Do you want me to take him to his room-yoi?" Marco asked moving forward but the man just smiled and said no to let the boy rest. Marco nodded and bid his father good night before he headed towards his own room. Splitting off from Thatch he though back to the smile Luffy gave at dinner time. It was forced and sad, it was fake and he hoped never to ever see that smile again. He would give anything to ensure that.

**Hey guys, Sorry I'm not posting as quickly as before school is crazy The normal excuse) But I actually have classes all weekend ( Who in their right minds decide this crap?!) and I have a presentation due at *am Monday morning _ So story time might be off for a little bit. That's why I gave a longer chapter! :D This chapter is kinda darker.. I wanted to show that children can be cruel. Devil fruits aren't as accepted every where and Luffy being young and strong makes mistakes. Writing the parts where he was sad really hurt me.. It actually made my anxiety go off a bit :P I hate seeing people sad and thinking people are sad really bothers me so that was hard to write but easy at the same time..I know weird. Also I wanted Whitebeard to implant the idea of the pirate king more into Luffy. Of course Marco and Thatch believe Lu will be the Pirate King :) He's their Ototto. Any ways let me know what you think, I'll go back to happy chapters again no worries :) bye bye! xxxdr **


	11. Training Plans and Garp introduced

When Luffy woke up that morning he was feeling a lot better than he had all week. Since the trip to that island he had discovered he was becoming anxious around the idea of meeting people outside of the crew. Marco pointing out the anxiety meaning it was time to sit the kid down to have a long talk.

He let Luffy talk about his feelings and what bothered him where Marco listened and told him to not worry so much. That there were other people out there who not only would love to meet him but are waiting for it to happen. He reminded Luffy that if he was afraid of everyone he met then there was a big chance he would miss out on those people waiting for him. Luffy became more afraid of that idea then being rejected again. Marco was thankful for that idea and bought Thatch some good Sake for helping him come up with that plan.

Luffy getting his clothes on as best as he could ran out the room and towards the smell of bacon. When he got to the Galley Izou stopped him to help turn his shirt the right way around and check him over to make sure the kid was dressed fine. Once he was given the Okay he raced to his spot at the table waiting excitedly for food.

"We'll be stopping at Sabody quickly to get coated before heading back to the new world." One member said with a hint of worry in his voice.

"While we're there we should show the kid around." Haruta said with a grin.

"I'm not sure that's a good idea.." Another member said looking at the kid who was stuffing his face with bacon and eggs.

Everyone was still worried about their little brother. That adventure that turned bad really left them rattled. The fake smile lingering in their minds and questions of where and when he learned how to use it. Luffy had trouble on an island they docked at for supplies, what would happen if he was taken to Sabody, an island that was truly a nightmare that was dressed as a day dream.

"We'll discuss it with pops later. He's on the den den mushi right now." Thatch said sitting down beside Luffy who was too into his food to look up.

"Who's he talking to?" Vista asked raising an eye brow in interest.

"Garp." Thatch said suddenly making everyone go still and glance at their 6 year old brother. Garp was probably not a good sign.

"What does he want?!" Cruiel asked Thatch who just shrugged his shoulders.

"Pops said he wanted to talk to him alone, that's all." He said watching his bottomless pit of a brother start to reach for Thatch's plate.

"We'll deal with that as it comes." Haruta said worry clearly on her face but nothing she could about it. When it came down to it they would protect their brother from anyone and everyone. Even the kids grandfather.

"Luffy, once you're finished eating I'd like to see you on deck-yoi." Marco said with a small smile entering the Galley. Luffy swallowed his last fork full of eggs knowing he wasn't getting any of Thatch's he grinned back at Marco and got up excitedly to follow him.

"Luffy, pops and I havedecided that you need to learn how to fight properly-yoi."He looked down at the child who's eyes widened in excitement.

"I get to learn how to fight?!" He shouted happily.

"Of course, we are having a strong pipe being built for you to use as a weapon. Until then we will be working on your devil fruit powers-yoi." He said to the child who started to jump around happily.

"We know you have eaten the Gomu Gomu no Mi making you a rubber man. We know that blunt attacks like hitting you won't hurt you. We just need to see what might hurt you so we can prevent that-yoi." Luffy looked at Marco but the way his eyes glazed over told the man he caught nothing of what was just said.

"So I have a mystery power!" He said excitedly, Marco just shook his head and sighed.

"Sure, why not-yoi." He sighed through his hand knowing that big words and sentences would make him lose the boy's attention all together.

"Izou will be working on your aiming 2 times a week, Thatch and Vista will be working on your pipe skills for 3 hours every day. Haruta will be giving you as much information on your devil fruit as possible as often as she can. I will be doing whatever is left over-yoi." He knew Luffy didn't get it so he smiled at the thought of him writing it all down to remember. Luffy couldn't wait to start training to finally learn how to protect himself so his brothers didn't have to worry so much.

"We start tomorrow so be ready alright brat?" Thatch had come out and placed his arm around luffy picking him up into a bear hug. Luffy's laughter rang across the ship making those who passed by smile. And laugh with him. 

Garp was in a panic his eldest grandson's safety was on the line. Sengoku called him in to talk about ruoms that had started to spread of the Pirate king's son being in the east blue. Garp waved it off and said Rumors are not true. Sengoku gave the man a long hard look before smiling at him.

"Of course, but that doesn't mean we can't be careful." He said to Garp who was internally freaking out.

"I do believe we have extra funding to spare, so why not put it to this." Garp laughed his booming laugh and called Sengoku an idiot for wasting money before excusing himself. Garp walked faster towards his office giving his comrade a nod starting he wanted time alone. Pulling out a den den mushi he glared at it before picking up the dial he didn't wait for an answer when he heard the other side connect.

"Whitebeard, it's me. We need to talk. I am in need of a favor."

**Hey there guys. another update Yosh! Actually this chapter kind of scares me to post. I don't want to push Garp but I think I want to. I worry you guys will hate this one all together T^T If so I am sorry. So I'm going to be bringing in the demon trio soon :) Garp doesn't know Luffy is on the Moby Dick (Let's get that cleared up now before that becomes a mess..) He knows of Luffy's existence but not of where he is. They are heading towards the new world why they were in paradise, who knows they just were :) I will be working ont raining stuff with lu as he grows no worries there guys! He will be training and getting stronger :D I left him 6 for a few chapters because he met Ace and Sabo when he was 7 so I wanted to have a few chapters where he was just a kid with his family. This is part of the reason for the last chapters sadness and rejection. I know Ace isn't going to like Luffy right away and Lu is going to learn how to deal with that. He was reject by other kids how will he get past being rejected again in his own home? He'll make them his brothers that how! Any ways I think I've gotten everything down that needed to be mentioned but if not and you have questions please PM me and I will answer everything that I can :) Please though (Since I do worry about this chapter being disliked) Don't leave me flames if you do dislike it.. I'm already an anxious mess this weekend with classes being all weekend and all next again thanks to everyone who reviewed you guys make me write faster and build my confidence up :) Night! xxxDR**


	12. Ace Sabo and Fatherly Bonding

_Ace was furious. The man he called gramps had decided out of now where it was time for him to be uprooted from the bandits he'd been living with and placed on marine ship heading out to sea. He was being taken away from his home, everything he had grown and come to see as his was now gone. His forest, his money, everything! He was fuming._

"_Calm down, seriously." Sabo said from beside him in their hiding spot. "The old geezer'll find us!" He hissed glaring at the raven headed boy beside him. At least Sabo was there. If his friend hadn't come along he'd be even more pissed._

"_Any clue yet as to where we're going?" Sabo asked making Ace look towards his friend in annoyance._

"_Like I'm hanging around that old man long enough to ask anything! He'll kill me!" He said back to the blond in anger. Sabo shook his head in worry. Sure he was grateful to be taken away from his hateful parentage but he was just as confused as Ace on everything else._

"_There you boys are." Said a voice from above them making their eyes widen and hearts slow down._

"_Now how about we continue our training…" _

_XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx_

Luffy was running top speed through the ship a big smile on his face.

"Pops!" He yelled laughing loudly the old man smiled in return when Luffy held up a yellow banana to his nose and said

"Look I'm just like you now!" He giggled in delight pretending to have a yellow mustache.

"GURARARARA! You need to grow a lot more to be like me brat!" He smiled allowing the kid to climb up and eat his fruit in peace. Marco had made it clear that all candy was banned from the ship due to the little hyper ball that Luffy became with a small amount of it. Instead Thatch had agreed that sweet fruits were okay. Banana's, apples, tangerines were all a welcome thing and Luffy didn't seem to mind that much. Of course that didn't stop him from asking for the sweets now missing.

"Luffy, how has you training coming along?" He asked the kid seriously Luffy had taken up training with the commanders throughout the week. He first complained about not being able to just use his bare fists to hit but got over it when his pipe arrived.

"I still keep hitting myself it's annoying!" He said puffing out his cheeks.

"GURARARA, you'll get the hang of it soon enough." He patted the small child's head.

"But I learned a new super cool move that can deflect anything!" He said cheerfully making the older man's brow raise, Luffy hoped down off his knee and sucked in air blowing himself up like a balloon.

Whitebeard couldn't help but chuckle, it was more adorable then anything but he knew not to say that.

When Luffy un-ballooned himself he smiled up at his father who smiled right back at him. Whitebeard patted his leg again letting the kid know he was to climb back up.

"Luffy. I need to talk to you about something." He said in a serious voice. Not use to be talked to like that he tried his very best to pay attention.

"Very soon we will have 2 more people joining us." He started making Luffy smile he loved having brothers and sisters the more the merrier. "They will be children around your age." The smile faltered very slightly but the older man caught it. He knew Luffy was weary around children now due to his time on that island he had hoped it would have disappeared by now. AS soon as it had fallen he pulled it back on.

"So there will be kids like me here at home? Cool!" He said excitedly and laughed but it sounded slightly forced.

"Yes you never know, you might just get along with them, why don't you try and make them your Nakama." He said catching the boy's attention. Nakama weren't just friends, weren't just family. Nakama means forever. He looked at his father figure with wide eyes willed with hope.

"Nakama…"He trailed off in wonder his worries fading away.

"Also you will meet your grandfather." He said pulling the kids eyes back.

"Grandfather? I have a grandfather?" He said with a head tilt.

"GURARA You do brat. His name is Garp, he's a marine vice admiral." Whitebeard said watching Luffy process everything that was happening.

"Marine? Aren't they the people who make Marco mad and all flamy?" Whitebeard knew he was refuring to the one time a marine shot a cannon ball too close to where Luffy was watching and Marco flamed up all blue and defensive sinking the battle ship in a matter of seconds.

"Yes, but he is your family so be nice." He said patting the kids head.

"Mn!" He nodded hoping off of Whitebeards lap.

"And where do you think you're going?" He asked him with a grin.

"To the kitchen, I want more Popsnaners. They tasted great!" He said pointing to the now finished banana peel making the old man laugh loudly making the crew around him smile glad to see their father so lively and their brother bonding.

"If I'm going to be as big as you I gotta eat lots of them!" He said with his grin before running off.

"Are we sure about letting him meet Garp-yoi?" Marco said flying down from the crows nest with a look of concern on his lazy face.

"Garp is his blood family. Keeping them apart will not help. The man needs a favour this is something he would never ask for." Marco looked at the older man.

"Just be careful. You and Garp may have a peaceful relationship but if he so much as touches my brother I'll show him why I'm the first commander-yoi." Marco said jumping down from where he was and trailing off after Luffy to make sure he didn't eat all of the Banana's and everything else they had in the kitchen.

"The son of Dragon and the son of Roger on one ship. GURARARA things are about to get interesting." He smiled listening to his family all around him.

**Hey guys! I'm back and I'm drowning in homework! I'm actually suppose to be working on counseling homework right now but nahh! So Ace and Sabo! I'm going to introduce them slowly. I love the demon trio and can't wait to have the family whole but I want some sweet Luffy WB alone time for a small while. So be patient I promise it will be worth it in the end :) I've been asked if Ace will be the same ass he was in the anime. Yes, yes he will. Will he try and kill Lu? Probably not to that extent. Marco is a very protective brother :P I have plan's guys let them unfold :) This chapter I wanted some Luffy whitebeard time. I've got tuns of time with him and everyone else mainly Marco and Thatch but I wanted to have some father-son bonding time. :)The banana thing was something that came tome at 530 am getting ready for class when I put the banana to my own nose and laughed myself silly. I love making Marco and Thatch Luffy's main people because they are so fun to play with :) and Luffy has a sweet way of pulling on your heart :) I planned on updating again yesterday with this but I was toddler level cranky so not happening. Well here you guys go enjoy and I shall have more up as soon as I am floating above the homework level again :) xxxDR**


	13. Stormy Dreams and the Sniffles

The thunder crashed form above and Lightening flashed through the ship. Of course living in the new world this wasn't uncommon, but this night was very loud and the storm was very close. Luffy woke abruptly in panic that one was louder than the last one. He felt alone in his room all by himself, he wanted his brothers. Grabbing his old bear and putting his hat on his head Luffy quickly got up and waited for the loud boom before opening his door and running as fast as he could. He was getting soaked by the rain but he didn't care he just didn't want to be alone. Reaching the closest of his brother's rooms he opened the door and shuffled inside.

"T-Thatchy.."He sniffled out shivering from being wet. Thatch rolled over at the new noise in his room to see his little Luffy shaking. Panicking he jumped out of bed and check him over.

"You're soaked!" He freaked pulling the wet clothes off of the kid and placing the hat on his dresser before wrapping him in a blanket. Luffy was still cold but pulled the blanket tighter around himself.

"Damn it! All your clothes are in the washing area. You'll have to wear one of my shirts tonight, is that okay Lu?" Luffy shakily nodded his head allowing Thatch to pull on of his larger shirts over his small body. He was still cold though so he climbed back into Thatch's bed to warm up.

"Whatcha doing running out here in a storm?" Thatch asked him sounding a bit angry but really it was worry.

"I had a bad dream and the loud monster outside woke me up." He sniffled starting to remember the reason he woke up in the first place.

"Do you want to tell me about your dream?" Thatch asked softly pulling the kid closer to him to give the boy more heat.

"A monster ate you." Tears started to fill his eyes at the memory. Thatch couldn't help but laugh.

"A monster ate me? What kind of monster?" He knew he should be taking this seriously by the puffing of Luffy's cheeks but he wanted to cheer his brother up.

"It was a big dark monster that had a mean laugh. He hurt you and I was sad." He said Thatch pulled him even closer then already.

"I'm not going anywhere bud. No monster can touch me or you for that matter. We're on the safest ship in the world." He ran his fingers through Luffy's dark hair in soothing motions until the kid smiled and hugged his brother falling asleep.

By the afternoon of that day Luffy was walking around rather tired looking.

"What's up with him-yoi?" Marco said pointing to the kid who had crawled up whitebeards leg to rest on the man's lap.

"He was fine this morning, he ate more than I did, but he always does." Vista said looking towards the clingy child.

"He had a nightmare last night." Thatch said coming up behind them making them look his way.

"He came to my room in the middle of the night and told me about his dream." Marco looked back over to the kid.

"It was raining pretty hard last night! He must have gotten wet-yoi!" Marco was worried whitebeard smiled fondly at the kid who was now sleeping up against him.

"He was soaked I dried him off as best as I could and gave him a shirt to wear. He slept fine once he had someone with him." Thatch smiled at the memory of Luffy cuddling him in the morning.

Luffy slept on whitebeard's lap for the rest of the afternoon the older man didn't mind it he enjoyed the company of his youngest son that's when he sensed it. Looking down at the sleeping boy he began to frown. Luffy's cheeks were red and his breathing had started to come faster.

"Marco." He called the lazy man appearing at his side in an instant.

"What wrong-yoi?" He looked over his father to make sure he was okay.

"Call Myrah, It appears your brother may be sick." Marco's eyes widened before dropping to where the kid was. Marco ran to the infirmary without even stopping to look who was in his way. He grabbed the head nurse despite her surprise quickly explaining the situation and running back with her right behind him.

"Move." Was all she said and many got out of her way. She walked up to pops and looked at the small child. Whitebeard lifted the boy off his lap into her arms where she could study him better.

"He's going to need to spend some time with me." And like that she was up and on her way back to infirmary a trail of siblings right behind her.

"He needs rest; I don't need all of you bothering him!" She said glaring at her family before closing the door in their faces Marco sat down Thatch coming up beside him.

"This is my entire fault! I should have dried him off better." He said sounding deflated.

"It was not. Things happen-yoi. He was bound to catch something sooner or later." Though he sounded worried. Looking over to Thatch he smiled.

"What was his dream about-yoi?" Marco asked him making Thatch grin a little.

"He said a big dark monster ate me and heard a scary laugh. He's turning 7 soon; nightmares aren't uncommon at that age." Thatch said but Marco looked thoughtful.

"He's intuitive; he can almost see the good and bad in people. Sometimes it scares even me how good he is at reading people's hearts-yoi." Marco looked at the infirmary door.

"Yet he can't see through the easiest lies. What a strange brother we have." Thatch said with a smile.

Myrah looked the kid over and sighed. He was sick but with nothing more than a small fever and a cold. The way everyone acted it was if he was dying! She loved her family very much but sometimes they could be the biggest mother hens around.

"Luffy will be fine. Within a few days he'll be jumping around causing trouble once again." She said to the waiting crowed that surrounded her door.

"He has a small cold due to the storm meaning he will be resting in here where we will be keeping an eye on him." She smiled at the relieved faces.

"Can he have visitors?" Thatch asked standing up she just moved out of the way as a few people went in to see for themselves.

Luffy was sleeping soundly his cheeks still red but not as warm.

"You'll be alright brat; you're loved too much to stay down too long." Haruta said checking in on her brother.

"We can't keep training you if you don't get better Lu." Izou said with a soft smile. Once the family had checked on him and cleared out Marco and Thatch sat down beside the kid's bed.

"Ma, Thatchy…?" He said waking up slowly his voice sounding a bit raw.

"Here take a sip." Thatch said taking a cup of water from the side table and handing it to the boy.

"Mnn."He said drinking it feeling a bit better.

"Has he woken up?" Myrah came over putting her hand to his forehead taking his temperature.

"You're warm Luffy. I'll keep you here over night to watch over you." She said Luffy's eyes widened.

"I don't want to be alone! What if the scary monster comes back!?" He shouted in a panic.

"Then we'll be close by to fight it off. You need to get better Lu-yoi." Marco said ruffling his hair. The kid sighed and fell back onto the sheets Thatch pulled his blanket up to his chin to keep him warm.

"Tell me a story?" Luffy asked his brothers not caring which one spoke first.

"What kind of story bud?" Thatch asked him lying on his side on the bed with Luffy Marco taking up Luffy's other side.

"Something magical…"He said softly dozing off.

"Okay…Once upon a time there was…." Thatch started. Marco filled in places that may have needed extra information but by the end Luffy was asleep and so were the two grown men. Myrah came in to yell at the two men to get out and let the boy rest but saw them all cuddled up together and smiled. Grabbing a camera she took a picture of the scene to show the old man later and even use as black mail if necessary. Luffy may have caught his first cold but he had his family there to make him feel better always.

xXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx

_Ace was hiding in a new spot and this time he was alone. When gramps found them he beat them both senseless! This time if they split up it would take him a lot longer to find him. He nodded his head in agreement with himself. Sitting in his spot he wondered where Sabo had gone off to and though he never would admit it he hoped his friend was okay._

_Time ticked by and no one had even passed his spot. At first he was grinning so happy he was safe but hours passed. The sun rose and was now falling in the sky. Ace can handle a lot of things. Being hit, being alone, being hated but he couldn't handle being hungry. Hunger was never a good thing and he always worked to get his meals. Realizing that the old man wasn't coming he got up from his spot looked both ways and ran as fast as he could towards the ships galley. Thinking he was home free just this once he laughed out loud until a loud thump sounded in front of him and a large man with shadows cast over his body appeared._

"_So there you are Ace, I was starting to think you were going to miss dinner…" He trailed off Ace paled but refused to take a step back._

"_Your friend was found an hour ago he took his punishment well…" Ace thought about praying for Sabo but decided to worry about himself first._

"_Now why don't we start a quick lesson before dinner…" And he punched Ace could only scream and run. Worst adventure out to sea ever! He thought while running for his life Garp trailing behind him fists flying aiming to damage and nowhere for Ace to escape._

**Hey I'm not drowning in homework any more Yay! But I'm not exactly floating as well :P So I decided to give Luffy a cold :) I didn't want to give him anything more than that. He'll be a-okay again no worries :) So I also gave him a bad dream about a monster eating Thatch. I'm sure you all know what that's about. Does this mean anything special? No, not really. I just felt that putting in hints of the Thatch issues would be interesting. Will Teach attack Thatch soon? No. Be patient everyone. I hate Black beard. Very Very Very much. I love Thatch very very very much. I'm not giving any more hints on that :) I will be posting mini Ace/Sabo snippets up until they meet the WB crew. Ace and Luffy's meeting. I have been given a great review with an awesome idea :D The meeting will be soon guys but Let's enjoy the fluff shall we? I want to thank each and everyone of you for supporting this story so far! With out all of you I would not be here. I know I say this but I really mean it! I'm an anxious person by nature so being told all of these wonderful things really helps me relax and not stress :) So thank you for giving me something to look forward to every day :D any ways enjoy guys! xxxDR**


	14. Pictures for Grandpa and Laughter

Luffy was coloring on the figure head of the Moby Dick happily singing a song about islands and idiots. He couldn't really remember he was still working out the words but he'll have it someday.

Anyways, Luffy was on the figure head drawing pictures of all of his family. He drew himself with as many members as possible showing him and that person doing something fun. He had Marco and when they flew in the sky. Thatch and the pranks they played on his division, those are fun. He had pops and the stories he tells, and Izou teaching him to aim his rubbery arm.

Why was Luffy drawing everyone having fun with him? Well that was because apparently his Grandfather was coming today. Luffy had never met his grandfather but he had heard a lot of stories about him. Luffy was excited to say the least not just because of the grandfather coming but because there was going to be new people on the ship! Two kids like him! He couldn't wait to meet them but hoped they would like him. He didn't do well the last time he met kids so he was understandably worried.

Marco had wandered up to the crow's nest to keep a look out on both any ships heading their way and the little boy on the figure head lying on his stomach happily drawing. That morning Pop's got a call saying that the two new boys would be dropped off that afternoon meaning Garp the Fist was on his way. This worried Marco a lot. He cared deeply for Luffy and didn't want to see him hurt but at the same time he knew the kid was going to have to meet his grandfather sooner or later. It might as well be here at home where he is safe and surrounded in brothers then out at sea where he couldn't be protected.

Also the two new boys worried him a lot as well. They were apparently 3 years older than Luffy making them 10. Pops said their names were Ace and Sabo, why he sounded excited about knowing the kids Marco didn't know.

"What cha doing brat?" Thatch had climbed onto the figure head to sit down beside Luffy.

"Drawing." He said laughing and pushing a few drawings over to the man to look at.

"Ughh... Good drawings kid, is that Namur right there?" Thatch said pointing to a figure in the paper he was holding only to get a scowl from Luffy.

"Noooo! That's Marco! See his hair!" Luffy pointed out making Thatch laugh uncontrollably.

"You're right looks just like him!" He joked making Marco's brow twitch from where he was sitting in the crow's nest.

"I know right!?" Luffy laughed along with his brother for completely different reasons.

"Why are you sitting here though?" Thatch asked him he was worried about the kid being so far away from safety. He could feel Marco's watching eyes from above so he knew the kid was relatively safe but he didn't like to chance it.

"This is my spot." He said simply Thatch looked the kid over as the boy looked up from his drawing and out towards the sea.

"But I thought the spot in front of Pops is your spot?" He asked the boy who didn't look away from his view.

"Mmmmm it is, but here I can see both the sky and the sea at the exact same time." He said softly not looking away.

"That is true…" Thatch agreed joining in the calm atmosphere with the kid. If the brat did fulfill his dream and become the pirate king then this would be his ocean. Thatch smiled at the though, Luffy was already making himself a throne to watch over what was his right before he even knew what he was doing. What a kid!

Marco was listening to the pair and smiled softly towards them. His best friend and his little brother bellow and the sea and sky in view. Luffy was right this was amazing.

"Do you want to go show pops your drawings?" Thatch asked him but Luffy shook his head.

"I wanna draw everything and give it to my grandpa. That way he can see that I have lots of fun and I'm really happy!" He said with his wide toothy grin his straw hat hanging from a strong around his neck.

Izou had attached a string when the hat was blown off his little head and into the water. Luffy in his panic to get the hat jumped overboard making Namur have to jump in after both him and the hat.

It was an experience the no one wanted to happen again but sadly the kid just couldn't stay out of the water. Being a Devil fruit user he sunk like an anchor he was every time.

Thatch laughed at the memory confusing Luffy.

"You're just cute kid." He said ruffeling his black hair.

"Nu uh! I'm cool! Not cute! Cute is for Girls!" He said in annoyance to Thatch who bent down and whispered.

"Deal with it kid, you're cute." Luffy puffed his cheeks and punched Thatch in the knee before the man straightened up with a laugh.

"You have to grow some more before you can be classified as cool!" He smiled down at the annoyed child.

"I will be the strongest! Then I'll beat you up!" Luffy stood up quickly and stomped his foot making his crayons roll away from him.

"Uh huh. You tell yourself that Lu." He chuckled and looked up at Marco who was grinning lazily at the pair.

"When you're bigger Lu I'll help you beat him up-yoi." Marco laughed Thatch grinned mischievously at him.

"Oh? I can't wait." Thatch really couldn't. He wanted to see what the kid could do so badly. He knew someday Luffy probably would be stronger than him but until then he was going to take the joy in being a big brother. And being a brother came with perks, like picking on his younger.

Marco laughed at them again he was having fun just watching his family. Looking back towards the sea he saw in the distance a ship approaching. By the way it was sailing he knew it could only be Garp.

"Thatch, time to bring Lu to pops." Marco said his voice tight.

"Thatch who was laughing with Luffy previously looked at his friend eyes narrowing.

"What's wrong?" He said in seriousness.

Marco looked down at the pair.

"We have visitors."

**Dun Dun Dun! Any ways Here is a chapter. I'm leaving ace, sabo and garp till next time :) I'm about to head out quickly so I needed to get this up soon :) It's snowing here in Canada! Yay! I think, I missed the snow sorta, last winter was the worst ever! So I'm worried about this one :/ Luffy likes the figure head so I wanted to get some time with him enjoying this one while he has the chance :) After all that's the throne of the pirate king :D Any ways sorry for the short little blurb really booking it to get out of here :P Enjoy the chapter guys you know the deal any questions let me know and I'll do my best to answer them and more :P bye bye! xxxdr**


	15. And Thus They Have Met

"Boys do you have everything ready?" Garp asked them looking down at the pair. Ace rolled his eyes and Sabo grinned. They both had no idea what was going on just that they were being sent away from the ship that had imprisoned them for the past month and a half.

"Where are we going? You haven't told us anything!" Sabo asked in annoyance to the old man then stepped closer to Ace in case he decided to punch him.

"You're going to be staying with…Somewhere safe." He said looking in the distance where a large ship was starting to appear. Ace's eyes caught sight of the giant ship and widened.

"That's a pirate ship…"His voice trailed off. He wanted to be a pirate someday, go out to sea make himself a name of his own, a name bigger than his fathers. But lately he and Sabo had had some trouble with pirates back on Dawn Island. Their treasure fund was nearly stolen by a pirate named Bluejam. They robbed one of his goons and he came after them. Fortunately their treasure was safe but their dislike grew when the man tried to burn down the Grey terminal.

Sabo had bad memories of that time. His father had come to take him home days before it happened, threatening Ace and making Sabo believe leaving his friend was the best option. On the night they burned the Grey Terminal Sabo had escaped with plans to go out to sea that morning and be free but his plan drastically changed when he bumped into Ace who was running for his life away from the fire. Ace had listened to Sabo's plan called him stupid then hit him over the head and said he should wait till they were older! Sabo didn't want to admit it but in his panic and desperation to get away from his family he wasn't thinking straight. Ace luckily got him thinking again. Weeks later Garp showed up said he was taking them to be trained and here they were heading towards a pirate ship.

"Remember boys pirates are not to be trusted, understand?" Garp asked his arms crossed over his chest and looking straight ahead as they grew ever closer to the ship.

"Mnn." Both boys said quietly also looking ahead. They were excited but terrified at the exact same time. What if they attacked? What if they threw them off the ship when Garp left, what if..?

"Oi! Permission to board?" Garp called up to the crew that was surrounding the area where the captain must be.

"Permission granted."A loud voice called and Garp pushed the boys ahead of him up a ladder onto a large ship. Ace's eyes widened as he took in his surroundings so this was a real pirate ship! It was nothing like BlueJam's dying ship back home! His excitement was growing.

"I gave you the details over the phone Whitebeard." Garp said standing behind the boys Ace turned swiftly and looked at his Gramps what did he tell this pirate about him?! Did he already know about his parentage?! Garp didn't look anyway from Whitebeard who grinned at the man under his large mustache.

"Of course." He turned his eyes to the boys "Welcome children." He said to them who looked up at him Sabo bowed low pushing Ace down with him.

"Polite Brats…"He chuckled. Garp sighed in relief that Ace didn't act out this one time.

"Then I'll be leaving…"He said turning away but Whitebeard called him back.

"There is one more thing I need to talk to you about…" Garp's eye brow raised in confusion he thought everything would be taken care of.

"7 years ago your son called me requesting to meet." Whitebeard said looking over the man in front of him. Garp's eyes widened.

"Dragon?!" He decided to give the older pirate his full attention this time. Ace and Sabo were curious they didn't know the old man had a son.

"Yes… He requested something important from me." He said Garp was trying to think of anything that Dragon could want from a pirate, especially one as well-known as Whitebeard. He couldn't actually think of anything, Dragon wasn't impulsive like him, no the man was too much like his mother.

"He introduced me to his son." Whitebeard said this time Garp froze and his eyes widened.

Luffy who had been in Marco's tight arms wanted to be let go to meet the new people. He was watching the kids that were standing in front of his pops and thought they looked interesting. And the man that came with them, he looked strong!

"Luffy…You've met Luffy?" Garp whispered sitting down this time he himself had never met the child he had no clue as to even where the kid could be! Dragon had said he was a parent now but he knew nothing else about the situation.

Luffy hearing his name gave Marco the eyes. The wide watery brown eyes that demanded love and attention, Marco tried his hardest not to look at them but he knew it was only a matter of time. Luffy could get someone to destroy the world through those eyes. Sighing Marco let Luffy down who ran past his siblings to stand by his pops.

Garp looked at the kid that came running to whitebeard's side. The brat grabbed hold of Whitebeard's leg and hugged it tight.

"Garp, I'd like you to meet your grandson, Monkey D. Luffy." Garp's eyes widened as he looked over the boy. Ace and Sabo's eyes widened for different reasons. There was a kid on the ship! And he was touching a powerful Pirate! Sabo had studied everything about pirates and knew Whitebeard was said to be one of the most powerful in this sea! He was known as the god of the sea! And here a child was grabbing him so carelessly. Ace considered the boy to be strong if he was living on a pirate ship. He smirked at the thought of getting stronger through the kid.

Whitebeard patted Luffy's head and smiled softly down at him.  
>"Luffy, this here is your grandpa, Monkey D. Garp." Luffy who had looked up at his pops to listen to him since Marco said it was good to look at people when they talked turned his head back towards the man sitting on the deck in his spot. Luffy walked up to him Garp was frozen with so many thoughts rushing through his brain.<p>

"Hi, my name's Luffy!" He said giving his signature grin and pulling his hat on his head. Garp looked the kid up and down when he didn't say anything Luffy lost his smile a bit and tilted his head to the side in confusion.

"My name's Garp. I'm…Your Grandpa.." He said the shock starting to wear off and tears building in his eyes.

"Mnn, Marco and Pops told me!" He smiled again and Garp could see it now the blood line traits of his family. The dark hair, eyes, the D. initial, everything. He pulled the kid into a deep hug he was so happy to be able to meet him finally. Luffy returned the hug just as happy. Luffy loved hugs and he wanted to meet his grandpa since Marco had mentioned him and Pops had talked more about him. Releasing himself from the hug Luffy put his hands in his pants and pulled out the drawings he had been working on.

"I made these for you!" He smiled while Garp took the pictures from the boy and looked them over. To be honest they were awful but he would treasure them always.

"Thank you Luffy." He said patting the kids head making him smile wider. Once he got off his grandpa's lap he saw the two boys who were watching him in awe. Garp would have punched one of them if they ever handed something like drawings to the man.

"I'm Luffy what's your name buddy?" Ace and Sabo looked at each other

"I'm Sa- Don't call me buddy!" He said to Luffy who only laughed

"Shishishi, Let's be friends kay?" He said then ran back to Marco who had stepped out when the boy yelled at Luffy his instincts telling him to protect his brother at all costs.

"I'll keep in contact Whitebeard."Garp said standing up brushing off his pants and looking towards the boys.

"Behave Ace,Sabo I'll see you both soon enough. Luffy…I'm glad to have finally met you. Be good for your new brothers." He said while smiling Luffy waved as his grandpa left the ship back to his own and sailing away.

"I'll take you to your rooms-yoi." Marco said to the two boys who were watching Garp's ship sail off in the distance.

"Sure Pinapple head." Sabo said making a tick appear on Marco's forehead.

"My name's Marco-yoi. Thatch you're coming with us." Thatch was on the ground laughing from the remark by Sabo.

"Of course!" He said in agreement while watching the two kids carefully a grin on his face.

"They can't stay with me?" Luffy said pouting in Marco's arms

"Nope they get their own room-yoi." Ace was starting to revaluate his claims about the kid being strong. He was hanging off of this man like a _Child. _

"This is where you guys will be staying for a while-yoi." Marco said opening the door to what use to be the second division commander's cabin.

"Whoa!" Sabo ran in and checked everything out smiling. Ace went to the bed and looked at it in amazement.

"So this is a bed?" He said softly growing up with bandits they hadn't really given him a bed just blankets and a patch of floor to sleep on.

"It's really comfy! I helped Thatch find stuff for the room!" Luffy said proudly now standing beside Marco but holding his hand.

Ace just eyed Luffy again making Marco stand in front of him protectively that didn't go unnoticed by anyone in the room.

"Marco, why don't we go report to Pops that they're settling in, right?" Thatch more demanded as he grabbed his best friend by the shoulder and pulled him out of the room.

"Boys if you need anything Luffy will show you around." He smiled at them before closing the door behind him.

"What the hell-yoi!" Marco wasn't happy at all.

"Luffy needs to grow on his own, he won't gain the confidence he needs if you're hovering over him like a freaking mother hen!" Thatch said rolling his eyes

"Let's trust these boys. Luffy wants this to work so bad, why not let him give it a chance?" Marco sighed in understanding but that didn't mean he had to like it.

"This is a pretty big ship so you could get lost easy!" Luffy said in excitement he hadn't stopped talking since the older men left him in the room. Ace had gotten over his fascination with the bed and tried to listen to the hyper boy but felt a headache coming on.

"We should go catch our food." Sabo said cutting Luffy off but that only made him grin wider which just made the two boys groan.

"I'll show you to the galley the cooks here are the best!" Luffy jumped around in excitement of getting food he started to list off all of the amazing foods he had eaten on the ship to them he was so excited to be able to talk to other children.

"We don't need your charity! We can catch our own food!" Ace snapped pushing Luffy down.

"Huh? But it's just food?! You don't need to catch it!" Luffy snapped back annoyed.

"Who knows what could be done to the food _you_ give us! I'll make my own!" Ace and Luffy were head to head arguing before Sabo pushed them both apart.

"Thank you, for today we will eat in the Galley." Sabo said his headache growing with all of the yelling being done by the two.

"See Sabo's the smarter one!" Luffy said sticking his tongue out making Ace growl, Sabo wasn't sure when Luffy had learned his name but shrugged it off.

"Sabo what the hell?!" Ace whispered to his friend.

"We need to eat, I'm hungry and this kids close to the crew. This is a pirate crew Ace! Who knows what they could do to us! If we get on this guy's side…"He stopped and pointed his thumb towards Luffy who was picking his nose and looking around. "Then we might be safe until we can figure out a way to get back home!" Ace didn't want to admit it but that was a good plan. The kid Luffy didn't look that smart and that could probably be used to their advantage while living on this ship.

"You guys ready?" Luffy asked them flicking a piece of snot off his fingers.

"Yeah, sure." Ace said stuffing his hands in his pockets and walking in front of the kid refusing to look at him.

And thus Ace and Sabo met Luffy. Who knew this meeting would change their lives forever?

**And they have met! I hope this meeting was good enough for everyone! I was considering doing it in parts sort of like how I did Romance Dawn and doing 1 part the introduction of Garp to Luffy then part 2 the Introduction of Ace and Sabo but I figured I have been holding off for way too long. :PI have plans guys to make this fun :) I will be focusing on Ace, Sabo and Luffy bonding for a bit but will nto forget teh family dynamics of the WB crew to them. Marco will be an over protective brother so bring on the comedy of Ace and Sabo :) I don't use the word brother towards Ace and Sabo yet because they haven't had their Sake Ceremony. I refuse to have that with out Luffy. I tried to clean up what happened with Bluejam a bit, since Luffy wasn't there he didn't see where their treasure was hidden so that mean guy that hurt Luffy (Can't remember his name darn it!)didn't hurt Luffy making Ace and Sabo have to rescue him. I also used the word _Child _in that style of format because I wanted to show that Ace doesn't really see himself as a child. Do remember that he has been hunting and living on his own with bandits for a long time so he's really mature about things. Sabo being taken home by his father yes I did keep that but when the fire happened Ace was busy worrying about Luffy so he was majorly slowed down that night. Since he was alone he could move faster and met up (Funny how that happens :P ) with Sabo stopping him from going out to sea. :) (What?! I needed a reason for Sabo not to be out at sea that day so I chose that, don't look at me like that!) My meeting with Garp was awkward I am so sorry! But I wanted a cute scene and a closing up of that mess with Dragon giving Luffy to them not Garp. SO I think I've tied everything up here but if I missed anything please let me know through PM and I'll clear everything up that I can. I don't know if I'll post a chapter tomorrow since I'm going to school to do homework in the library so I'm less distracted here at home. Any ways leave me a review let me know what you think and I'll be talking to you all later :) xxxDR**


	16. I Hate You Marco!

"So how long have you lived here?" Sabo asked Luffy who was giving them a tour of the ship.

"Mmmm, my whole life I guess. I don't remember ever really leaving the ship." Luffy said smiling while Sabo just nodded his head in understanding. He figured that if he could get as much information out of the kid the better.

"You've been here your whole life and you're still that weak?" Ace scoffed glaring at Luffy. Luffy puffed his cheeks.

"I'm totally strong!" He yelled back making the raven head roll his eyes and smirk.

"Then prove it!" He grinned.

"Fine! I'm going to show you a super amazing thing that pops said was amazing!" He said catching their interest. Luffy sucked in a bunch of air blowing himself up like a balloon. Pops had said it was cool so it must be! He thought excitedly.

Ace's smile faltered as an idea formed in his head that brought it back.

"Hey Sabo hit him over here!" Ace said punching Luffy towards Sabo who looked doubtful but punched him back any ways. Luffy was being passed back and forth like a ball between the two while Luffy tried to tell them to stop all while holding in the air still. Ace hit Luffy a little too hard and he bounced over board and into the water.

"Shit! He'll be fine though right?" Ace said looking down at the water where the kid should be resurfacing, when he didn't they started to get worried. Looking at each other they knew they couldn't just leave him to die so they did the next best thing.

"HELP!" Ace and Sabo screamed causing everyone on deck to freeze up and Marco to fly down from where he was resting.

"What's wrong-yoi?" He said looking around for the danger.

"Mr. Pineapple head! The kid Luffy fell in the water!" Sabo shouted causing a tick to form on Marco's head in annoyance before he realized what they said.

"Namur! Luffy's fallen over board-yoi!" Marco shouted getting the Fishman to nod his head and jump in the water after him. Once Namur was back on deck with the 7 year old Marco began to pump the water out of Luffy's mouth.

"What the hell Lu? You know you can't swim-yoi!" Marco was worried and releasing it as anger.

"I…"Luffy started.

"What happened?" Thatch said coming to check on things.

"Luffy fell overboard, how exactly did that happen-yoi?" Marco gave the two kids a suspicious glare that made them kick their feet a bit and not look at the man.

"W-we were playing!" Sabo said looking down.

"Yeah it was an accident!" Ace shouted returning Marco the glare.

"Is that true Luffy?" Thatch asked the little boy knowing he couldn't lie.

"Y-Yeah, we were just playing." Luffy replied. It wasn't a complete lie since they were playing it just wasn't the nice playing he wanted.

"Hmmm…Why don't you come play somewhere else for a while Luffy, maybe I can ready you a story-yoi."Marco said taking Luffy's hand and trying to lead him away from the group.

"Noo! I want to play more with my new friends!" He shouted towards the man who wanted Luffy some where he could keep an eye on him. Luffy knew that if he left his friends they would think weird things about him!

"Luffy it will be fun, come play with me for a while, we'll do whatever you want-yoi." Again he tried to lead him away from Thatch and the boys. Thatch raised his eye brow at Marco, he knew the man was protective but he had hoped he would give Luffy the chance to try this out.

"Nooo Marco! I just want to stay here!" Luffy moved out of Marco's grasp to stand beside Ace and Sabo who were starting to feel uncomfortable.

"Luffy. You can play more with them later, for now let's go do something else." Marco said but got an angry glare from Luffy in return as tears started to form in his eyes.

"Why are you always stopping me from having fun with them!? I hate you!" Luffy screamed and ran away. Thatch not quite sure what to do took the boys by the shoulder and steered them away.

"Let's go and get something to eat, how does that sound boys?" They both nodded their heads not quite sure what to do.

Marco was frozen on spot. Luffy had said he hated him, he actually said that. Vista walked up and clapped Marco on the shoulder in sympathies.

"He didn't mean it. He was just angry." Vista tried to reassure the man but Marco was lost in his own thoughts. Marco walked to the only place he could think of to collect his thoughts, Whitebeard's chair.

"He said he hated me-yoi." Marco sat down in front of the older man and put his head in his hands.

Whitebeard looked down at his eldest son with sad eyes.

"Give him time to think and clear his head also allow your own mind to clear as well. Both of you were angry and not thinking straight. He's a child Marco he will say things he doesn't mean but this is how he will learn." Pops said making his son look at him with hope.

Meanwhile Thatch was sitting the boys down with plates of food at the table.

"They seem close." Ace said playing with his food Thatch knew he was talking about Luffy and Marco.

"They are they've been together since day one." He smiled fondly at the memory of a baby Luffy in Marco's arms.

"Is Pineapple- I mean Marco Luffy's father?" Sabo asked. He knew they didn't look alike but the bond seemed to almost feel that way. Thatch laughed loudly.

"No, Marco is Luffy's brother just as I am. Just as you both might someday be." Thatch said smiling leaning into his elbows on the table.

"What happened to his father?" Ace asked this time looking up at Thatch with dark sad almost angry eyes.

"He's out on the sea somewhere. We aren't sure where even but we know that's where he is. Luffy doesn't even know he has a father! Marco and I have been taking care of him the most since his birth, you should've seen it! One day his father shows up and drops him off on our ship asking us to raise him. It was truly something I'll tell you that." Thatch smiled again he really loved thinking about the years they've had with the brat.

"He doesn't know his father… What if his father's a mean man? What if the world hates him for what his father does?" Ace asked this time he had dropped his fork altogether Sabo gave Ace a sad look.

"Then we will deal with that as we go. Luffy is our brother and we will protect him whether he likes it or not-yoi." Everyone looked up to see Marco enter the room.

"Where's Luffy?" He asked Thatch who smiled in return.

"His new spot." Was all he said and Marco nodded knowing where to go. Walking to the figure head he saw the little boy hugging his old bear and clamped up in a small ball.

Marco climbed over the railing and walked up behind Luffy picking him up and putting him in his lap.

"Sorry-yoi." He said softly taking Luffy's hat off and holding him tighter.

"I don't hate you." Luffy whispered softly. Marco smiled Luffy would always be Luffy no matter what.

"I just worry about you. I know you're getting bigger but some days I still see you as my little guy learning to walk and talk. I forget you need to grow up-yoi." He admitted to Luffy who looked up at him with his big brown eyes.

"I also feel a bit jealous that others are getting to have the same fun with you that I always did-yoi." He also admitted with a sheepish smile, Luffy turned around in Marco's lap and gave him a hug.

"You'll always be special Ma, but I want friends!" He said his voice muffled by Marco's shirt.

"I know but I'm allowed to worry about you kid." He said returning the hug.

When dinner rolled around everything was back to as normal as it could be, Luffy sat beside the two boys who were secretly stealing food off each other's plates while Luffy watched with fascination. When dinner finished and Luffy had run after Thatch to demand some sort of sweets that were not allowed Marco had walked up behind the two boys with a menacing aura.

"Boys, I'll accept you both for now…" He said trailing off the two looking straight ahead avoiding the man behind them.

"But if I ever find out you've hurt my little brother in anyway…" He left the sentence at that and walked away with an evil smirk. Lesson for them to learn, never piss off an over protective flaming turkey.

**So much for not posting another chapter so soon :P I know this wasn't too much about Ace, Sabo and Luffy but more about Marco and Luffy. I'm building up on stuff :) I've said I hated my parents as a child, we need to get angry every once in a while and Luffy is juts starting to show he want's his own independence. I also am acknowledging the fact that Marco will have to start letting go of his little brat. There will be better demon trio stuff in the future but this was just a need. I used the balloon passing from the episode that they did that and Luffy got eaten by a crocodile. Since there were none around I just had him fall in the water. Luffy never explained that he was a fruit user. Though Sabo most likly figured it out when Lu blew himself up. Ace hasn't really had any meetings with other fruit users that I know of as a child so he didn't know Luffy couldn't swim. I'll get to him explaining that to them as they get to know each other. Also them taking advantage of Lu, I'll work that in don't worry :)The trio didn't become brother's right away they need to build themselves up to that :) I spend time meant for school thinking of ideas :D Yes I used an idea from a lovely reviewer! I thank you so much for letting em use it! :D Another important thing I know my grammar skills suck! I am interested in a beta if any are offering. If not I'll continue to do my best to proof read my work but my fingers type faster than my brain and my eyes are not the greatest :P If you're interested please pm me and I'll see what I can do. I've never had a beta before so I dunno from there D: I'll sign off now it's super snowing here! So I'm off to grab a warm drink and dance to Christmas music :) bye bye! xxxDR**


	17. Robbery Turned Bad part 1

"I can't wait!" Luffy said excitedly he wanted to go back to the new world so badly he was shaking.

"Well you'll have to we have a few more islands to stop at before we reach Fishman island-yoi." Marco said with a smile. Luffy loved the chaos that filled the new world. He had been raised in it so he really didn't know anything else.

"We're going further into the Grand Line?" Sabo asked Luffy he was sitting on the railing listening to them talk.

"Mn, I've only been in parapise a few times before." Luffy said then was corrected by Marco.

"You mean Paradise-yoi." Marco laughed at Luffy's ability to say simple things wrong. Luffy nodded his head saying that was exactly what he meant.

"Paradise?" Ace asked coming into the conversation.

"Everyone calls the first half of the grand line paradise in the new world." Thatch clarified to Ace who nodded his head in understanding, well as understanding as could be for a child.

"Why don't we just go straight there instead of lingering here then?" Sabo asked in confusion If Luffy was able to handle it surly him and Ace could take it. After all they were a lot stronger than him.

"Because you guys don't seem to be used to living out here yet-yoi." Marco said giving the pair a look.

"What do you mean by that!?" Ace shouted stomping his foot, he felt that Marco had indirectly called him weaker than Luffy.

"The grand line's weather is harsh and changes frequently. The new world is harsher and kinda scary at times. You boys are from the East Blue right?" Thatch asked them with a smile. The boys nodded their head slightly shocked Thatch knew where they were from.

"The East Blue is known as the weakest of the Blues. You boys will need a bit of time to adjust." And with that he waved to them and headed towards the kitchen.

Ace and Sabo looked at each other in worry. Sure they were excited to see the new world but really, they just wanted to go back to Dawn Island and get their pirate fund!

"Why are you so excited to go back to the new world?" Sabo asked Luffy who was now sparkling in excitement.

"Because we go to Fish Man island!" He shouted throwing his hand up.

"Fishman-." Ace started

"Island?" Sabo finished in confusion.

"Mmm! They have the most amazing sweets ever!" Drool started to pour out of the kid's mouth and sparkles formed in his eyes. Marco sighed knowing that was what he wanted. Ever since he had cut Luffy off of the headache inducing, sugary things he had demanded fishman island's whenever they got close. Since they only visited the island every once in a while he couldn't refuse the sad eyes Luffy directed towards him.

"Riiigggghhhtttt.."Sabo said not really sure what else to say to the kid.

"We'll be coming to a summer island in about an hour so go entertain yourselves until then-yoi." Marco said waving his hand in dismissal. Luffy ran and gave him a big hug with a whispered thanks before he ran after the two boys who had started to walk away making Marco smile.

"He's getting so big so fast." Haruta said with a smile.

"He is, isn't he-yoi." Marco watched the kid fondly chase after the boys who looked annoyed by him being there. Ace whispered something to Sabo and Luffy started to jump around excitedly.

"He's making friends it's a good thing. I was getting worried." Namur said joining in with the group. Luffy said something to the two boys who seemed to panic making them grab him and pull him into their room. Marco raised his eyebrows, he thought his threat to them would be enough.

"They're up to something-yoi."Marco went to take a step forward but was smacked in the chest by Izou's fan.

"Don't interfere. You remember what Luffy said the last time you're brother complex went off." The cross dresser gave Marco a knowing look as he flinched at the memory of being told he was hated.

"But what if-." He started but got a glare in return.

"Watch him from a distance Marco he needs space now. He's not the baby he used to be." Pouting slightly Marco waved them off and headed to his room to distract himself with paperwork.

"You guys have a treasure!" Luffy was practically bouncing Ace and Sabo looked at one another not quite sure what to do. They took him into their room in hopes to distract him.

"You're too loud!" Sabo shouted at him when they got in the room.

"What if those pirates heard you?!" Ace shouted as well making Luffy tilt his head in confusion.

"So? No one would take it?" He said softly.

"You don't know that! After all the work we've done they might want it!" Luffy was growing more and more confused as they kept going on about the reasons why his siblings would take their treasure. They only stopped talking when a knock was heard at the door.

"Boys everything alright in there?" A voice called Sabo getting worried that they themselves had been too loud called back innocently.

"Yeah we're just..ughh…Playing!" He said the person on the other side seemed to buy that and replied with

"Alright we just reached the new island so come get yourselves ready to explore it soon." and with that the person left them alone.

"New island?!" Luffy sped past them and out the door completely ignoring them as if he didn't even care what they had been talking about.

Ace and Sabo hung back in the room though.

"There might be people we can rob from here on these islands." Sabo said excitedly.

"We need to restart our pirate fund, even if we did make it home there's always a chance it's already been stolen, if it hasn't been though we can still add what we've now got later to it." Ace smiled and fist bumped his friend who returned the gesture. Racing after Luffy they saw him holding Marco's hand and talking excitedly about random things they couldn't follow.

"Boys, why don't you and Luffy explore the village a bit?" Thatch said knowing this village well. He knew there was a large town close by but figured Luffy would just want to show them around the small one. Luffy didn't like too big of crowds usually he just chose to stay with his brothers so being asked to go with his new friends he was a little excited but also a little scared.

"What? Afraid of being without your pirate friends?" Ace scoffed in annoyance of being tied to the kid.

"No! Let's go. Bye pops!" He called and waved at his family. Marco was giving Thatch a death glare.

"What? Don't look at me like that! This is a small village what trouble could they get into?!" Marco just glared more and walked off the ship towards the village to start his duties of restocking and preparing.

Luffy was given a small pouch of money from Thatch to buy snacks as he followed the pair towards the village as well. Sabo had been listening to the crew since they mentioned a new island and heard about a small town away from this one.

"We can go to the town next to here and take action." He whispered to Ace.

"Yeah but first we need to ditch the kid!" He whispered back pointing at Luffy with his thumb.

"Mmm."Sabo replied and thought of ways to ditch him then an idea came to life.

"Luffy? I'm starving want to grab some lunch?" He asked the kid who's eyes grew in excitement.

"Mnn!" He replied and the three went to a small restaurant to sit down. Ace had no clue what was going through his friends mind. Once food was ordered and Sabo ate enough to distract the kid he started to look for an escape.

"I'm full! Luffy do you want the rest?" Sabo pushed his much unfinished plate towards him making the kid smile wider.

"Of course!" He started to dig in that's when Sabo took his action.

"Luffy your brothers are all in this village so we're going to go look around on our own a little bit." He said quickly and grabbed Ace's arm pulling him up.

"Don't go anywhere kay?" He smiled forcefully towards the boy who was just eating as much food as he could.

Taking that as an understanding the pair left the restaurant in a hurry. Luffy had the money so they didn't worry too much about the bill.

"I think I saw a map back here that will point us to the next town over." Sabo said thinking fast in hopes the kid didn't finish any time soon. Finding the map and feeling relief that the town wasn't that far away the boys took off towards the path. Luffy finally looking up realized that his friends were gone; paying quickly for the meals he raced from the restaurant towards the boys. He saw them heading towards a path and decided to follow them and see what happens. Marco had told him that sometimes being sneaky was okay if it kept him safe, he knew his friends wouldn't hurt him but he wanted to try it out this one time.

He followed behind them for a while until they reached a small town but it was larger than the last one. He kept his distance from others and watched them move through the crowds. They were stuffing their hands in pockets as they walked by so easily and putting what they grabbed into their own pockets.

Luffy was so fascinated by them and the way they moved, it was like they had been doing this for years!

When the boys figured they had enough they ran towards a forest area to count their loot with a huge smile on both their faces.

"Wow we actually did quite well! I wasn't sure what we'd get here being away from home." Sabo said counting the amount of bellies in his hand. Ace grinned counting his own amount nodding in agreement.

"Wow! You guys were amazing!" Luffy said excitedly from forest floor making the two boys freeze. Luffy had followed them so silently! Racing down the tree they grabbed him and tied him up. Ace provided the rope from his pants pocket.

"What are we going to do? He'll tell everyone!" Sabo asked in worry.

"We…we'll have to kill him." Ace said quietly and Sabo looked at luffy with a serious face nodding in agreement.

"What?! Don't kill me! Don't throw me in the water! Help me somebody!" Luffy shouted at the top of his lungs! Both boys looked at each other in confusion.

"Why did he tell us that?" Sabo asked in confusion and Ace just closed his eyes in irritation

"Because he's an idiot, you kill him already." Ace said looking up at Sabo who had his mouth fall open in surprise.

"What? You kill him I've never killed anyone before!" He screamed back at Ace who replied that had never before either. The entire time Luffy was still screaming and crying about being killed by his _friends _

"Hey I think I found something!" A man's voice called out Ace and Sabo looked at each other before letting Luffy go hoping he would go and hide.

"Where did those brats go?! Stealing from pirates!" A tall man said stomping through the forest.

"Shit, we stole from a pirate!" Ace said calling himself every amount of stupid he could think of.

"Hey where did Luffy go?" Sabo asked looking around.

"AHh!" They both turned in time to see Luffy being held up by the man.

"And who are you?" He asked Luffy who glared at him.

"No one you stupid gorilla!" The man didn't like being called that and a tick appeared on his head.

"Boss! That kid was following behind those brats that robbed us!" A smaller guys said pointing at Luffy.

"Oh? Do you know where I could find your friends child?" He said in what appeared to be a friendly voice but his tone gave away his intentions.

"No…I have no idea.." Luffy said his face starting to sweat and his lips forming a pout while he refused to look the man in the eyes.

"Such a bad liar!" he said in surprise.

"Well why don't we go and see if we can…Jog your memory, ne?" The man said with a smile carrying Luffy off into the forest.

**I left you guys at a cliffy (But if you've caught up to the anime you know what's coming :P ) No this is not the same guy, the other guys still on Dawn Island. I think this scene was really important to the bonding Luffy ace and Sabo yeah I will be following that scene pretty closely. Oh how Marco is going to take this :) so a few notes about this chapter Luffy mistaking paradises name In an episode in drum area Sanji asked Luffy why he was wearing sandals in the snow and he mistook the word policy for some random nonsense word. I was using that as a reference. :) Another note is the candies on Fishman island. Luffy will argue with big mama over eating a lot of them so why not get him addicted early on in life:) I was asked if I am going to do a sequel at some point on when this story is finished. Yeah I am actually planing on one :) I think ti would be interesting and fun to write :) Of course that will be after this one completely. I'm not starting anything else till this story is over and finished because I'll loose my inspiration and this will fall. Will Ace Learn about Dragon? Yesh He will because in the anime he didn't seem surprised about Luffy being dragon's son when it was announced. So Yeah but I'll use it in a nice way that will make people go Aww ;) I will say this one more as I always do but I mean it! You guys are the reason I write! If I didn't have any of you I wouldn't be able to write as I do! So thank you! It's super snowing here in Canada! I live in the northern area so I know snow is a constant nightmare but I an't even see the apartment across the street it's so snowy! I might have to use my polar bear to go to school tomorrow afternoon :)any ways jokes over (wasn't funny..sorry-does the Bepo bear sad face-) Enjoy the chapter I'll have the rest tomorrow :) xxxDR**


	18. Being Alone Hurts part 2

"What are we going to do?!" Sabo said from beside Ace who just had his hands behind his head walking lazily back towards the village they had come from originally.

"Going to do? Nothing, that's what we'll do, he probably told the guy he's from the White beard crew and the jerk let him go. He's probably running back to his mommy Marco to cry." Ace rolled his eyes at the thought.

"I guess…I mean who would mess with a crew the size of White beards?" Sabo said relaxing. Ace was probably right I mean the kid didn't look that smart but even he would know to say a name from that crew.

Walking back to the village in silence the boys couldn't wait to look through all of their treasure and really put together how much they can probably make on the grand line.

When they arrived in the village everything seemed normal so the boys didn't really think about anything. They wandered around and used a small amount of their fortune to by snacks and things they might find useful.

"Hey Ace over here!" Sabo called from a shop nearby. The shop was selling cheap items and the tall pipes had caught his eye.

"Hmm?" He said coming over to see what got Sabo so excited.

"Aren't you boys a little too young to be looking at such things?" An old man shop keeper said but stepped back by the glare Ace gave him.

"Pipes?" He asked Sabo who nodded his head excitedly.

"Yeah just like back home!" He missed having the feel of his pipe in his hand. He saw one in Luffy's room as well back on the ship and considered stealing it but thought against it when Marco gave him a dirty look for even touching it slightly.

Ace nodded his head in understanding he missed holding a weapon as well.

"This way we can protect ourselves if need be." Sabo continued on with excitement. The shop keeper sensing a sale jumped right into action.

"Their also coated with Sea stone. You never know what type of fruit user you might run into around here so it's always good to have a little bit on you just in case." He said pointing to the tips of the pipes that had a slick shinny look to them but felt gritty to touch.

"We'll take them." Was all the boys said before handing a large chunk of their funds over to the man with a smile. Sure they knew they had given away part of their treasure fund but it was worth it to get a weapon again.

"Hey boys having fun?" Thatch asked coming into view with a bottle of alcohol in his hands.

"Mmm! Look at what we got." Sabo said pointing to his pipe Thatch grinned glad to have one of the brats opening up to him even if the other still remained closed off.

"Looks great, maybe we'll start training you both with Luffy." He said in excitement he liked training Luffy and with others there the kid might learn faster.

"New pipes, huh? Where's Luffy-yoi?" Marco came around the corner and walked into the conversation looking around for the hyper ball named Luffy. Ace and Sabo's eyes widened at the missing child who they were sure would go running to Marco.

"Uhh..He..Uhhh..I-I'll go get him!" Sabo said taking a step back and pulling Ace with him who started to pale. Marco raised his eye brow in suspicion.

"You don't think he-!" Sabo said running back towards the path that lead to the other village.

"He wouldn't have! He can't be that stupid!" Ace was panicking it had been hours since they left him alone in that forest, 6 freaking hours to be exact! They ran as fast as they could towards where they might find the little boy.

-Hours earlier-

"So brat all you need to do is tell us where your little friends are and I'll let you go." Said the man with an evil grin Luffy looked him right in the eyes and said

"Never!" Annoyed at the child he picked up a large hammer and brought it crashing down on his head where it wiggled for a moment then bounced off.

"That won't work! I ate the Gomu Gomu no mi! I'm a rubber man!" Luffy said in annoyance, sure that didn't actually hurt but that didn't mean he liked it.

"I see an actual fruit user. Hey, tie him up and get my gloves." He said pointing at Luffy who was now being tied from the rafters just dangling in the air. The man returned then took one look at Luffy grabbed him by the hair bringing him to his face.

"Tell us where they are kid or you'll never see anyone again." Luffy once more looked the man in the eyes and screamed

"Never!" Snorting at him he pushed Luffy back allowing him to swing back towards him and with his spiked glove he punched Luffy in the face. Blood flew from the impact and Luffy began to shake. No one had ever hit him before, and whenever he did get hurt someone was always there to help him.

"Ouch! That hurt! Someone help me!" He started to cry out making the man angry who then took another swing at Luffy. Hours past and Luffy was covered in blood, his body was shaking and tears still filled his eyes.

"Tell me!" The man shouted in his face Luffy looked up at him once more with bright eyes that refused to be broken.

"I won't say, I won't say, I won't say!" He chanted like a mantra making the man punch him more and more but Luffy refused to sell out the two boys. Once the man figured that Luffy wasn't going to talk he threw the gloves across the room.

"Fine, no more." He said softly walking away from Luffy towards a sword that was leaning against a wall. Luffy looked up at the man and felt sad, was this how he was going to die? He wish he had told Marco and Pop's that he loved them a bit more. Hearing the man drag the sword across the room Luffy closed his eyes and more tears fell.

"Then die." The man said bringing the sword up to Luffy's level and bringing it back to swing when the walls shattered and Ace and Sabo came crashing in.

"Stop it!" They shouted Bringing their pipes down on the unsuspecting man and his gang of pirates.  
>"Sabo! Get Luffy down from there!" Ace shouted holding his pipe in a defensive position while Sabo went to work helping the kid down.<p>

"Easy there Luffy.." He said softly to the child who didn't even have enough strength to move.

Ace was fighting off a bunch of people at once and was being severely out matched but only by the numbers not by the strength. When the man that had tortured Luffy grabbed Ace by the collar and lifted him into the air Luffy called out for Ace and Sabo knew he needed to step in.

"You stay here." He said to Luffy before going to stand up when he felt himself being pushed back down.

In came 2 older men standing protectively in front of Luffy and Sabo while one of them had their hand on the one holding ace's shoulder.

"If you know what's good for you you'll put the kid down." The man holding ace's eyes widened at the sight of Commander Thatch.

Marco's blue eyes were shadowed and angry. This was the first time he had ever seen anyone so angry before.

"White beard pirates.." The stupid man said softly and looked at the kids before laughing.

"How the old man has fallen to take on such pathetic children!" He laughed hysterically and threw Ace to the ground making the kid grunt. The man didn't even see it coming when Marco moved in swiftly and broke his neck. He had never felt so angry before, he knew something was up with those kids so he and Thatch followed them just in case. When they heard Luffy was being held some where he wanted to burn the island to the ground. No one touched his brother, not now not ever.

When they saw the boys go crashing into the room Marco wanted to join them but Thatch held him back.

"Let's see how they handle things first." Or at least that was the plan until Marco saw Luffy. His little Luffy was covered in blood and shaking in fear. He lost it, he wanted the blood of the monster that did this and he would have it.

Turning now he saw Luffy holding onto the other kid with a firm grip and a soft smile. Sabo returned the smile to him.

"Let's go." Thatch said picking Ace up and putting him on his back. Ace tried to struggle not use to being held but Thatch held him in place.

Marco Picked up Luffy very carefully and felt him snuggle into his arms falling asleep instantly, it had been a really bad day.

There was silence during the walk for a long time but Marco finally had enough.

"Why-yoi." Marco said his voice strained.

"We made a mistake..." Sabo said softly but that wasn't good enough for Marco.

"He trusts so easily, he wanted to be with you all the time. He even said he hated me because I tried to separate him from you. Why would you leave a child alone with a man you didn't know? Why didn't you come find one of us sooner-yoi!?" Marco didn't even realize he had been shouting until Sabo flinched.

"We thought he would escape and go to you." Sabo said quietly knowing it wasn't an excuse.

"It's fine now. All three of you are safe and sound." Thatch said Marco was still angry but knew now wasn't the time to take it out on children years younger than himself.

"Everyone makes mistakes." Thatch said knowingly to the kids Ace was silent but was watching the sleeping boy the whole time. Luffy hadn't ratted them out, he had been beaten and nearly killed but refused to rat them out. He would never say it out loud but his respect for the boy had started to grow, even just a little bit.

Once they reached the ship it was starting to get dark and the boys had missed dinner so understandably everyone was worried. Pops got up from his chair to greet his sons home when he spotted Luffy in Marco's arms.

"Who has harmed your brother?" He said softly, sadly but everyone could feel the anger. Luffy's shirt was ripped and covered in his own blood seeing him like this really upset the older man.

"It's been taken care of and will never happen again-yoi." Marco said looking towards the two boys.

"Take him to the infirmary, when he wakes up I'll have a cook bring him some dinner. You boys also go rest food will be there when you are ready." Pops directed them to the infirmary where they were checked over by the head nurse. She deemed Sabo healthy but needing rest, Ace had a mild concussion and would need to stay overnight to make sure he was fine in the morning. Luffy was heavily bandaged and cleaned up. Myrah shook her head her lips pulled into a thin line but didn't say anything.

When Luffy was tucked into a bed and everyone resting Marco sat down and watched them. They were just children, children who have probably suffered and had no idea what to do in that situation. He felt guilty for yelling at Sabo but… He shook his head all three were safe, and that was all that mattered. He leaned back in his chair and fell asleep.

When Luffy woke up he saw two faces looking at him. Sabo smiled but Ace just watched him carefully. Marco also woke around that time but decided to pretend he was asleep curious as to what might happen.

"How are you doing?" Sabo asked him cautiously not sure how the kid might react.

"I'm sore but I'll live." He said giving his big smile. Ace gripped his hands into fists and stood up quickly

"Why didn't you just tell them where we were in the first place!?" He shouted towards Luffy Marco had to use all of his will power just to hold himself in place.

Luffy put his hat on his head and looked down shadowing his eyes his lower lip pulled up in a sad pout.

"If I had said anything.. You wouldn't want to me by friend.." He said holding back his tears Ace just lifted his hand up and pointed at Luffy.

"It's better than dying isn't it?! Why do you want to become my friend that much?" Ace said in confusion and anger.

"Because…" Luffy started and Marco's heart just broke hearing that tone of voice come from Luffy. It was so sad.

"Didn't we give you such a hard time till now? Why would you follow us this far?" Ace's voice had grown softer sounding more confused than angry now.

Luffy sniffled a bit and trying to hold back his tears that were due to fall.

"Because….Because I have no one else!" He shouted Marco forced himself to relax but even Sabo and Ace were startled about that proclamation.

"Marco and Thatch are always really busy and pops sometimes doesn't' feel good so I can't bother him! If I didn't follow you guys I'd be all alone! Being lonely hurts more than being hurt!" Luffy let the tears fall this time. Marco was panicking he really wanted to hug Luffy tell him it was alright. He had no idea that Luffy was feeling this way at all!

"But you're surrounded by a lot of people.." Ace said slightly confused and a bit taken aback.

"Mmm but they're all older than me. There's no other kids on this ship.." He said looking straight at Ace.

"Is it easy for you when I'm around?" He asked Luffy in a serious tone.

"Mn." He nodded his head.

"It's harder without me?" He asked Luffy in the same voice

"Mnn." Luffy replied the same.

Ace seemed to zone out at that point and Sabo looked at him with sad eyes knowing just what he was thinking about.

"Do you want me to live?" He almost whispered staring at Luffy expectantly daring him to say no. Marco was thrown off by those words. What could have happened in this child's life to cause such a reaction, to make him wonder if he should have been born? For the second time that day Marco felt like hurting the monster that caused this child pain.

"Of course I do!" Luffy shouted making Marco smile softly.

"I see… But I still hate stupid cry-babies like you!" Ace shouted at Luffy who stood up.

"I'm not a cry baby I'm strong!" He shouted back glaring at Ace.

"Right says the one who's crying!" He taunted making Sabo just sigh.

"You try getting punched with a spiked glove for hours!" Luffy replied before Sabo actually started to Laugh.

"You guys are so silly.." He giggled out making Ace blush in embarrassment and Luffy just grin. Luffy yawned and went back to his bed Sabo grabbed the now flustered Ace and led him over to the bed where they snuggled in and fell asleep. Marco opened his eyes and watched the children. Thatch submerged from the shadows with a sad smile.

"I like them." He said Marco just sighed.

"They've been hurt, severely-yoi." He whispered trying not to wake them.

"And Luffy was feeling Lonely." Thatch replied in the same whisper.

"Why didn't we see it-yoi?" Marco asked looking at his small brother.

"Because he's always smiling. Common, let's let them be. Tomorrow will be another day and I have a feeling things are about to change." Thatch said him and Marco heading out of the infirmary together closing the door softly.

**And here you guys go :D This was really long but I felt if I stopped any where it would kill it :P So I'm using the fact that Luffy called Sabo the nicer brother in the anime :) That's why there's a lot of sweet Sabo and troublesome Ace :P I felt that the being alone hurts more saying was a need. And I get it to! Luffy was rejected by the children in society and all he's ever had is grown ups to play with. Sure hanging out with your parents and their friends is great but having friends your age really makes you feel amazing :) So I dunno if I'll be posting tomorrow guys. I'm in the SSW program at school and I have to go to a mandatory AA meeting to learn just what I will be working with in the real world and to help take away judgmental stigmas towards that program. I also have a presentation and a grant to write for tomorrow T^T I'll be posting as soon as I'm floating above the homework level again :) any ways bye for now! xxxDR**


	19. Lonely and Valentine

**I know I post at the bottom of the page but this needed to be seen first :) So For all of you who read and review to my story Thank you! You are all my inspiration to keep going. Because of this I have asked for permission to take an idea from a reviewer to say thank you. This next chapter will be a split chapter. As a thank you to my reviewers and an achievement of reaching over 100 reviews, alerts and favorites I give you a chapter that does follow story but it will take place before Ace and Sabo have come to the Moby Dick, sure it's a filler chapter but it's darned cute. Any ways Thank you all once more and here we go. XXXDR**

It was morning and Luffy was ready to start his day the way he usually did, with a large breakfast. Jumping out of bed and quickly throwing his cloths on he raced from the room towards the amazing smell.

"Slow down there buddy, the foods not going anywhere." Doba said with a smile patting him on the head sitting in front of him at the table. His monkey made a chattering sound in reply as well. Luffy just stuffed his face more not listening to anything or anyone he loved food so much after all.

When he finished eating as fast as he could he ran outside to see if someone would play with him. The commanders were getting everyone in order to start fixing and cleaning the ship since they had a battle the night before.

"Marco! Can we go flying?" He said excitedly he hadn't been flying in a while and was starting to miss the wind through his hair.

"Not now buddy I got a lot of work to organize here then more to get finished later. How about another other time-yoi?" Marco picked the hat dangling from Luffy's neck and placed it on his head in a sort of apology.

"Mnn."He said with a smile knowing how busy his big brother can get. Deciding the next person he should ask was Thatch he ran off towards where the man usually was.

"Thatch was heading out of the kitchen to deliver snacks to the crew members in his division that were working hard.

"Thatchy! Tell me a story!" Luffy went running to the man colliding with his leg in a hug.

Thatch laughed and patted him on the head.

"Can't right now bud, I've got to make sure my division is motivated enough to work." He smiled a sheepish grin down at the disappointed boy.

"How about we play a bit later, kay?" he said Luffy gave his biggest grin in return and ran towards his father. He was in need of a story and pops was always ready to give one that's for sure. When Luffy got to where Whitebeard always was he felt his smile falter at the empty chair.

Walking towards a nurse who was gathering all of the equipment for the older man Luffy tugged on her shirt.

"Ne, Where's pops?" he said in concern she smiled sadly at the little boy.

"Pops isn't feeling well today Lu, he needs to rest so he can be strong again later, alright." She really needed her father to get the rest he needed the battle the night before had worn the older man down a bit.

"Mokay…"He said but smiled any ways running off towards another victim hoping someone would play with him. It turned out everyone was busy doing something. Even though the ship was always fun they were still pirates and chores had to be finished to keep the ship going.

Luffy felt his eyes burn with tears unshed. He had hundreds of siblings but not one could sit down and play with him, he felt so lonely.

"Woof." Luffy looked up suddenly from the floor he had taken refuge on to see Stephen sitting in front of him now.

"Woof Woof" He said licking Luffy's leg making the boy giggle.

"You're my friend Right Stephen?" Luffy asked the dog who replied with a woof.

"I wish I had other friends… I mean, I like having Ma and Thatchy and Pops! But I wish...I just want someone to talk to! Someone who could play like I do and be like me, Ya know?" He cried a bit to the dog that just cuddled up with him.

"Sorry, I won't be sad any more, promise. I'll laugh again tomorrow; I'll smile again tomorrow but today…" He let his smile fall completely off his face and buried himself in Stephen's fun.

"I just want to be sad for today." He mumbled closing his eyes and falling asleep right there.

Sure Luffy had everything here on the Moby Dick, family that loved him, a father that cherished him and Marco that would always watch over him. What he really wanted though was someone he could freely talk to. Someone who could take away his loneliness, because after all being lonely hurt more than anything in the world, and he never wanted to be alone.

"What you doing over here-yoi?" Marco said standing over a sleeping 7 year old with his face buried into a sleeping Stephen's fur.

"Sleepin' go away..." He mumbled out snuggling deeper into the warm fur. Marco chuckled at that before he bent down and whispered

"You'll miss dinner-yoi." And with those words Luffy was awake and standing.

"Food!"He shouted happily

"Let's go eat brat, I was starting to worry." Thatch said coming around the corner and grinning at the pair.

"Mnn!" He grabbed Marco's hand and then took Thatch's hand and they all smiled walking towards the galley Luffy's loneliness forgotten for now.

XXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx

"Luffy, would you come here for a moment?" A girl named Hanna said she was one of the nurses on the ship who would every so often slip a sucker to the boy so he liked her.

"Mnn." He said excitedly hoping to get a sucker.

"I-we need your help little man." She said taking his hand and leading him towards the infirmary.

"Sure!" He said excited to be useful to someone.

When Luffy entered the infirmary he could feel the temperature drop even just a little bit.

"What's going on?" He said not quite sure why the nurses were staring at him like that. An evil smirk came from them all before they jumped him tearing his clothing off, Luffy couldn't help but scream in fear. Everyone on the ship heard his scream and raised their eye brows not quite sure what was going on.

When Luffy opened his eyes he had a fancy outfit on him. His red shirt with a clip on tie matched with his black vest that buttoned up to his chest. His dark pants with a small chain hooked at his belt made him look quite handsome, or at least that's what the ladies were gushing about.

"I knew it! He looks amazing in this outfit!" One of the nurses screamed in delight.

"We should put him in a kimono next!" Another shouted excitedly.

"No! We should try this cute animal onesie!" One of them came forward holding up a new outfit.

"W-what's going on.."He started to back away in worry.

"We have decided to teach you about fashion Luffy, it's a must in this world! You can't wear the same thing all the time you know! Though that isn't that important for the moment…" The nurse Hanna said to him getting on his eye level.

"Do you know what day it is today Luffy?" He thought about it for one second before his head started to hurt.

"Nu uh." He said shaking his head in confusion.

The nurse giggled and blushed before saying with cheer.

"It is Valentine's day!" She grinned and the other nurses were smiling happily as well.

"Valltime? Who's that?" He said confused he didn't know anyone named Valltime.

"Valentine Luffy, it's a day where people express their love." A nurse said coming forward to talk to Luffy.

"Express love?" He tilted his head making the girls coo at his cuteness.

"Mn, we want you to help us give out chocolates to everyone." She said poking his nose.

"Chocolates! Ah! But Marco will become a cranky bastard! He doesn't like chocolates!" Luffy said remembering how Marco didn't seem to like candy being on the ship.

"I think he will give in today especially if you go looking like that." They all grinned at his suit and tie look.

"Mmm!" And with that they gave Luffy a medium sized bag that he could carry but not too heavy for him filled with small wrapped chocolates.

"Now Luffy, I want you to hand them to everyone okay. When you do though remember to say 'Happy Valentine's day.' Got that?" He nodded his head excited to go and give the presents. The nurses gave him the thumbs up and he started.

The moment Luffy walked out on deck he caught attention. He was wearing something very different then normal, and while it did make him look very sharp it was still weird coming from him. Luffy spotted a random crew member marched right up to him plopped his bag on the ground then handed a chocolate to him.

"Happy Valltime day!" He said with his grin. The member looked at the chocolate before grabbing Luffy into a big hug.

"Thanks bud!" Luffy laughed and waved good bye continuing on his way.

He stopped every member he came across saying his words and giving his gift. The crew was in a very cheerfull mood and Luffy loved the hugs he was getting from everyone.

"Marco!" Luffy yelled in delight seeing his brother talking to pops. The said man turned and smiled at Luffy who was running towards him.

"Marco! Here, Happy Valltime day!" He handed Marco a chocolate and climbed over to pops and did the exact same thing.

"Do you mean Valentine's day?" Pops asked with a grin.

"Mn, that word!" Marco laughed along with the old man.

"The nurses must have coned you into this-yoi." He said looking at the outfit Luffy was wearing.

"Coned?" He asked not quite sure what that word meant.

"Talked you into this, the clothes do look good on you though-yoi." He said looking at the outfit his little brother was wearing.

"They wanted to dress me up funny!" He shouted throwing his arms in the air.

"GURARARA, I bet they did" Pops said with his smile. Luffy laughed back before waving his hands in farewell heading off to continue his chocolate give away. Marco was never fond of chocolate but chocolate from his family was the best.

**There you have it! I wanted to use the idea of Luffy being lonely on the ship because being around adults all day can be boring and children need a lot of attention that pirates can't always give him. Sure there will be times he can get all the love he needs but other times they will have work to do and Lu will be expected to let them do their jobs. I love the idea of Luffy being dressed up it sounds cute and can you imagine luffy wearing a cute fluffy onesie?! Ahh it's adorable! The chocolate thing and Marco not really being fond of it is actually a tie in of myself :P I'm not fond of chocolate for some reason I just don't like it so I kinda transferred that on to Marco :P So I never did mention this in any chapter but I'm not actually Oda-Sensei (Late disclaimer but here you go!) And because I'm not him I will not get their personalities correctly to the manga/anime. I am creating my own version of Luffy in a way. All I'm asking with this is please don't have high expectations for me to have a perfect character personality fixed into my writing because I can't. I will only try my best to make chapters worthy of the followers and reviewers that read this story. You are all what keeps me going. Please be kind tonight with this chapter I've had a really crappy day ^_^; any ways enjoy guys! xxxDR**


	20. Fathers and Dreams

Since the two boys were not use to the grand line's weather yet the Whitebeard pirates decided to make smaller stops around paradise to help build up their immune systems.

Of course Luffy whined about this for a while wanting to hit Fish Man island as soon as possible and return to what he knows but the looks Ace and Sabo gave him shut him up quickly. The boys had grown ever closer since the time on that island. Sabo had included Luffy into their friendship and even hung out with him in the galley. Mostly it was to just talk and listen to Luffy tell stories about their adventures every once in a while. Ace was still refusing to completely accept Luffy but that didn't mean he didn't like the kid, in fact he actually did like him. Ace would scowl and scoff whenever Luffy was around but when the kid turned his back Ace would give Luffy a fond smile one that didn't go unnoticed by Marco.

Luffy had accepted Ace; he wanted Ace to live without even knowing why he felt the need not to. Ace wanted to protect that kindness no matter what, of course though he'd never admit it out loud.

Marco had come to accept that these kids would be a part of Luffy's life from now on. Luffy had decided that they would all be sharing a room from that day forth and began this decision by gathering up all of their things and helping them move into his bigger room. Marco had hoped that the scowling one would refuse this decision but instead he agreed to it. All he could do was sigh and hope for the best at this point in time.

Things began to get worse for Marco as each time the boys left the ship all three would return in worse shape than when they left. Luffy was starting to wear hospital bandages as if they were a new fashion trend, and one the nurses weren't too fond of. But of course Luffy would just smile his large grin whenever Marco asked him what he was doing and say

"Secret shishishi.." Before running off towards his friends in happiness.

Marco didn't quite know what to do with himself, Luffy was keeping secrets from his family and that was something new that he didn't like.

Luffy felt bad he wanted to tell Marco what was happening but he promised Ace and Sabo he wouldn't ever tell a soul what he knew.

One day when they ran off to a new town to visit Ace separated from them to wander on his own. Sabo said that was fine and he probably just needed space. Luffy wasn't so sure about that but felt that Sabo wouldn't lie to him so he let it go.

He followed Sabo around while Marco and the others gathered supplies there was only going to be a few more paradise islands before they went back home. While they were walking Sabo was growing increasingly worried as the time flew by.

"Maybe we should go find Ace, ne?" Sabo asked Luffy who was just watching a few bugs on the ground.

"Mn!" He cheered standing up straight and following his friend in hopes to find Ace, it was like his own mini adventure!

When the boys walked into a bar where they though Thatch might be to ask him if he had seen Ace they were surprised to find Ace actually there.

"Hey..." Ace started while walking up to a bunch of drunks..." They looked up at him in confusion.

"What would you do if Gold Roger had a kid?" He asked his fists gripped tight. The man scoffed and laughed causing the entire bar to start laughing. Sabo pushed Luffy behind him muttering a "oh no…"

"He'd be better off dead! Nothing more a monster, a demon that wouldn't deserve to live!" The drunk man laughed making Ace angrier.

"Why's Ace so mad?" Luffy asked innocently.

"Because Gold Roger is Ace's dad…" Sabo said without thinking to Luffy whose eyes widened in surprise then began to sparkle in excitement!

"Wow! Really that's so cool! "Luffy started to freak before Sabo realized what he had said.

"Shh! Don't mention that at all to Ace!" he said panicking

"But why?" He asked innocently.

"Because Ace hates his father that's why!" Sabo stated with heat knowing it would be his head for telling the kid, especially since he couldn't lie and was very close with the pirate crew.

"That's weird!" Luffy laughed cheerfully making ace look their way. He gave Sabo a glare in question before bringing his fist back and slamming it into the drunks face.

"Dammit, you stay here!" He said before jumping into batter right behind Ace. Luffy not one to listen jumped right on in with Sabo fists flying in every direction hitting anyone he could.

"Oi! I told you to stay there." Sabo said knocking down another guy while Luffy just laughed his head off. One man pulled a blade and sliced Luffy's arm making the kid stop laughing and glare at the man Ace heard Luffy hiss in pain and brought his foot onto the man's head knocking him out. Realizing that they weren't going to get anything else the trio fled the scene.

Going to a forest to rest where people wouldn't think to look for them Luffy showed his bloody arm to Ace who only sighed. Sabo always prepared pulled some bandages out of his pockets and started to wrap it up.

"That won't fix it but it will stop the bleeding for now until the doctor lady sees it." He said smiling at the work he had done.

"Why did you get so angry Ace?" Luffy asked him with a tilted head.

"Doesn't matter." He shouted not looking at his friends.

"Mmm Is it because Gold Rogers your dad?" Luffy asked him with the same head tilt which made Ace turn around so fast and hit the kid on the head.

"Don't say that bastard's name!" he said in complete anger then gave a glare at Sabo who was whistling not looking at the fight going on.

"But you know all about me,why can't I know about you!?" Luffy shouted back nursing his sore head.

"Hmmph."Ace just pouted in return.

"It is kind of true Ace, we have been learning everything about this guy it's only fair he learned a little about us." Sabo smiled at the look Ace was giving until he saw that Ace was smiling rather weirdly.

"Righttt, and since you so kindly told him about me why don't you tell him something about you?" He smirked at his paling friend.

"I-I-I'm not that interesting.." Sabo stammered out catching Luffy attention.

"Oh? So your family isn't special or anything?" Ace said smirking still at Sabo.

"Fine!" He shouted closing his eyes.

"Luffy I come from a noble family!" He shouted at the kid who only began to pick his nose.

"So?" Luffy asked feeling disappointed he thought that Sabo might have a cool dad as well.

"You don't care?" Sabo looked at the kid his eyes softening.

"Pops says that everyone is the child of the sea." He repeated the phrase pops had once told him.

"Luffy, Ace!" Sabo stood up and pointed to them.

"Someday when we're older we'll sail the seas! There will be no one freer than us!" He said excitedly.

Ace grinned before standing up himself.

"Someday I will make people remember my name! Even if it's through fear they will know me and that I was born!" He shouted feeling lighter. Luffy catching on to what was happening also stood up nodded his head in understanding took a deep breath and said

"I will become the king of the pirates!" He shouted for the whole world to hear. Both Sabo and Ace looked startled at that proclamation.

"Of all the things you would say." Ace sighed rubbing his forehead

"Hahaha! You're a funny guy Luffy. I can't wait to see what the future holds for you." He smiled and they all walked back to the ship with a grin on their faces feeling closer than ever.

When they got back to the ship and Marco saw the bandage on Luffy's arm he immediately looked at the two beside him.

"Care to explain-yoi?" Luffy laughed at the scene.

"That was actually my fault shishishi." He said making Marco feel even more worried.

"Fine, just go get cleaned up-yoi." He sighed watching luffy and the two boys run off to the infirmary.

"Don't look so sad Marco." Pops said from his chair Marco made his way over to sit by his father.

"I feel like he doesn't need me as much anymore. He doesn't even come to me when he's had a night mare or even to cuddle like he use to… I feel like I'm losing him-yoi." Marco said to the older man sadly but white beard smiled softly.

"All children must grow but that doesn't mean he doesn't need you. He will now need you for support rather than attention. He still loves you Marco as his eldest brother, why not try and get to know the other two. Get to see why he likes them so much and maybe you will understand him better." Whitebeard said to Marco who smiled standing up and brushing himself off before walking to the infirmary to check on his brother-brothers he corrected himself.

Pops was right in the time he had been moping about not having time with Luffy he had never really tried to get to know the two other brats around him. That was about to change from this day on he would learn about them and try his hardest to see them through Luffy's eyes, and why Luffy was smiling with them he couldn't help but smile back. Luffy was Luffy no matter who he was with he brought the sunshine.

**Hey guys (I just posted this and took it down quickly because I forgot to edit it _ ) I have a chapter for you :) I wanted this chapter to be the build up of a few things leading up to the Sake ceremony and Marco learning to let go of his little brother :) I'm not going to write anything else because I'm kind of in a bad mood. I'll write more again soon guys. xxxDR**


	21. Brotherhood and Gunshots

Ace had woken up early that morning with dozens thoughts racing through his head. He, Sabo, and Luffy had all decided that they were going to share the bed that Luffy originally had to himself. Ace looked towards his sleeping friends and knew that out of all the people in the world, the two people right there beside him could be trusted to their cores. Now, Ace was not normally one to show his affections for others, but he felt he absolutely had to show them the trust he put in each of them. And, after thinking about it for days on end, he had come up with a way. Ace slowly crept out of bed and tried to quietly leave the cabin, hoping since it was still dark out that everyone was asleep. Thankfully, he could tell by how quiet the ship was that no one was up yet. Using the stealth he had learned while sneaking up on animals bigger than himself, he made his way to the galley.

He looked around the large kitchen, thankful that the cooks kept the place clean. Not at all like Dadan, who shuddered at the mere mention of the words 'clean' and 'organized'. He climbed up on the counters, opening cupboard door after cupboard door in search of something in particular. Each time he opened a door, he would close it just as quietly, hoping that no one heard the soft squeak the hinges sometimes made. Opening a door closer to the corner of the kitchen, he finally found what he had been looking for: a bottle of sake.

Grabbing it excitedly, he gently put it down on the counter and hopped down. He smiled widely looking at the drink; this was exactly what he needed. Now if he could just find something to drink from, everything would be perfect. After rifling through several drawers nearby, he found 3 red sake sakazuki practically begging him to take them. Seeing his plan come together made the boy even more excited. His smile practically split his face. Pocketing the dishes and holding the bottle tight, he raced back to the room to put his plan into action.

Thatch watched from the shadows his brow raised. He had woken up early, as per his usual routine, to plan out the crew's meals for the day, only to find a 10 year old child stealing a bottle of sake from his kitchen. The kid had guts to steal from the chef of the Whitebeard pirates, he'd give him that. He could have easily stepped out from his observation point and stopped Ace, of course, but his curiosity as to why a child wanted a bottle of booze outweighed his anger. As such, he decided to simply wait and see how things went. Marco, of course, wasn't going to be told anything. An angry Marco was the last thing he needed. An overprotective brother was never a good thing, especially if somebody his little brother liked to associate was misbehaving with sake. No, it would be best to just wait this out and see what happened for himself.

It was a bit less than an hour later, Luffy and Sabo woke up. As they did, they saw Ace sitting by the door a huge grin on his face.

"What's with that look? It's too early for your craziness!" Sabo sighed, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes.

"I was planning on doing this on the next island, but I can't wait. Luffy, get up or you'll miss something good!" Ace said and called to the little boy who shot up looking around excitedly.

"Izzit a new type of food?" he asked searching excitedly around him, making Sabo laugh.

"Nope, something better," Ace grinned and placed the three cups in a circle in front of him. Luffy jumped off the bed and sat in front of a cup while Sabo looked at the other in confusion.

"Did you know that when men drink together they become brothers?" Ace smiled, carefully pouring the sake in the three cups so as not to spill any.

"Brothers?' Luffy asked in wonder.

"Mnn."He responded with a smile. "From today on we shall now be called brothers!" Ace said, picking up his cup and toasting it with Luffy and Sabo. The three chugged it down quickly, ignoring the sudden burning through their throats.

"Someday we may not be crew mates on the same ship, but no matter where we go, we will be bonded by our bond of brotherhood!" Ace said, putting his glass down looking at his friends-no-brothers in pure happiness.

Thatch, who had been listening in with his observation Haki, couldn't stop the large tear that made its way down his face. His family was expanding, and growing even closer. Putting on a large grin, he made his way to the galley to cook up a fabulous breakfast to honor the new brothers, his new brothers.

-Line break-

Marco had been keeping a look out on some ships coming their way. He had spotted them an hour ago and signaled the crew just in case. Of course they were probably super weak, but still, it was never a fun thing dealing with the piddly little pirate crews who thought they had some chance at beating Pops.

"Oi! The ships are approaching rather quickly now, and they've got a flag I don't recognize yet either-yoi," Marco called down to a commander, who was quickly relayed the report to Pops. Whitebeard was entertaining his three youngest sons on his lap, telling them a story of one of his sea battles. Luffy was his usual cheerful and excited self while Sabo paid close attention to everything that was being said. Ace seemed to feel uncomfortable being on the old man's lap, but he was happy nonetheless with his brothers beside him.

"Pops, some ships have come into view and Marco doesn't know the Jolly Roger," the man said. Pops nodded his head and dismissed him.

"Do I have to go below deck Pops?" Luffy asked, feeling a bit worried.

"No my son, you can stay here this time. Those ship are small, so I doubt any danger will come from them." His words calmed Luffy down right away. After all, Pops was the strongest man in the whole world!

Sabo looked excitedly curious. He had never seen real live pirate battle before. Sure he had beaten up thugs with Ace but small-time thugs were way different from rival pirates. Ace had the exact same thoughts and felt more excited than anything else. He couldn't wait for the battle to start.

Pops continued with his story, Marco joining in and picking Luffy off of his father's lap, placing the kid on his own. Luffy snuggled in right away happy to get cuddles. During the story, cannons were beginning to be fired from the other ship towards the Moby Dick. Ace and Sabo were still on Pops' lap, so they were beyond safe, and Marco had firm grip on Luffy. Marco didn't move yet in spite of the cannon fire, since he knew one of his many siblings would help defend the ship when the time arose.

When the closer ships began to fire and the ship began to rock, Luffy burrowed a bit deeper into Marco's chest, making the man hold him tighter trying to calm him some.

"It's all right Lu; no one can hurt you while I'm here-yoi." Ace hopped down from Whitebeard's lap and sat down beside Marco and Luffy, with Sabo following close behind.

Sabo rubbed the his little brother's back in soothing motions and Ace just sat there watching the battle ensue, a protective aura surrounding the group.

This was one of the first times Marco felt close to the other two boys. It was obvious that they cared for their new little brother just as much as he cared for Luffy. His eyes locked with Ace's for a moment, but that was all that was needed. Ace nodded his head at Marco and Marco nodded back, a new bond forming between the two. They both would protect their brothers to the best of their ability. Sabo smiled at his brother finally forming a connection with someone outside his current life.

Marco stood up, feeling content leaving Luffy in the care of the two children, something he had never felt before. If he had the time, he might have stopped to contemplate the new feelings of trust that were building inside him, but their ship was under attack at them moment, so he had to simply file those thoughts away for later and be ready to defend his family.

"I'm here to challenge Whitebeard!" a man that appeared to be the captain called out. Thatch rolled his eyes and the others shook their heads, laughing at the thought of their father being defeated. Luffy looked on in interest but still held nervously onto Sabo's shirt.

"You're thirty years too early to challenge me, brat!" Whitebeard boomed. The man charged at him with his sword drawn and ready to attack.

Whitebeard simply punched him, sending him flying into his ship fast enough to throw him through a wall.

Luffy jumped up, finding his pops even cooler than ever now that he got to see him fight.

"Wow! He really flew!" Ace said, attempting to be cool about his surprise but clearly being impressed.

"GURARARA! Cheeky brat," Whitebeard bellowed with a grin.

"Oi! What did you do to our captain!" a man from the rival ship demanded, jumping from his ship onto the Moby Dick and pulling a gun from his sash.

"Oh look, another idiot here to challenge pops. Can't they just go away?" Izou asked feeling rather bored now that the captain was beaten.

"I'll make you pay for that!" He frantically aimed his gun at Whitebeard, who only frowned at the man in annoyance. The complete disinterest Whitebeard seemed to show outraged him beyond belief. Just before he pulled the trigger, he jerked the gun towards Whitebeard's feet, right where Luffy was watching. His eyes widened when he heard the bang of the gun being shot. Ace reacted instantly, shoving the kid to the ground as Vista deflected the bullet with the flick of his wrist. Marco's eyes narrowed in anger. How dare this man shoot towards his little brother, how dare he even shoot at a child! Marco gave Pops a look, asking for permission, but Whitebeard was already on top of the problem. He stood up straight, glaring down at the trembling opponent with his full height.

"I thought your crew was here to challenge me?" he stated, his voice booming. "And instead, you dared attack not only an unarmed, defenseless child, but my youngest son?! Get off of my ship!" The whole world shook for a moment as Whitebeard used his powers, sending the opposing ship flying along with all of its crew members.

Kneeling down to look at Luffy, Pops did a quick look over to see if any damage had been done.

"Luffy, are you alright?" He asked softly.

"Mnn!" His hands were shaking a bit, but other than that, he seemed okay. "I had my big brother here to protect me!" he exclaimed, looking up at Ace. Ace grinned down at him ruffling Luffy's hair affectionately.

"Thank goodness. I'm glad you have two strong big brother's Luffy-yoi." Marco said giving Ace a fist bump in recognition. Ace returned it with a smile.

Thatch's eyes widened at the scene. In only a short time, Marco had opened his heart to the other children and accepted them as his brothers. He relaxed a bit, knowing now that things were going to be alright. Ace had proven himself to all of them by protecting Luffy. He had earned his title as a brother and Thatch was going to start making use of that.

**Hey guys I'm back! I was out getting my wisdom teeth removed this week T-T I also cut off of all sources of caffeine this week as well so I was a bit out of whack :) I have just to point out something wonderful with this story now :D I have a beta now! Strange1331 will be editing my work to make my story so much more enjoyable for you readers :) I have another chapter typed already and in the process of being looked over for you guys but for now enjoy the fluff :) DR**


	22. Pranks, Stories, Freedom and Fun

Thatch had a plan. True, it wasn't one of his best or most well thought out plans- nothing could top the "Egg Day" plan- but still, it was a plan. And every good plan needs proper planning to come together perfectly. He was writing a list of materials he was going to need to pull it off. While he was thinking about the finer details, Ace had come in looking for Luffy and Sabo.

The Moby Dick was a massive ship and gave the boys plenty of room to entertain themselves, so Luffy had decided to play Hide and Seek. Ace, failing at rock-paper-scissors, ended up being "it" and had to count to 50 while his brothers ran off and hid. Now that he was done counting, he had wandered off to look for his brothers. Walking into the galley where he was sure Luffy would hide, he spotted Thatch leaning over on the counter, humming and writing things down.

"Whatcha doin'?" Ace asked, startling the man into dropping his pencil and covering the list with his hands. When Thatch realized that it was just one of the kids, he sighed in relief. He was afraid Marco would discover his secret plans. Still, he had to be cautious. Ace could blab to Luffy, Luffy would definitely blab to Marco, and then his whole plan would be ruined.

"Hey, brat. What are em-you-em doing?" he countered, subtly trying to cover up his list a bit more. Ace noticed and became curious.

"Looking for Luffy and Sabo. We're playing Hide and Go Seek," he answered innocently, leaning over a bit to try and see what was on the now completely covered list.

"Speakin' of hiding and seeking, what're ya hiding?" Ace asked, smirking a little. Thatch eyed the kid suspiciously. He knew the kid was getting on Marco's mother hen list, so he was wary to talk about his plan with the brat. Then again…

"Promise not to tell anyone, not even Marco?" Thatch asked seriously and Ace nodded his head. Thatch looked at him a little longer before picking him up and plopping him down on the counter beside him. He would be useful.

"Have you ever pulled a prank before?" Thatch asked with a smirk. When Ace shook his head 'no', Thatch laughed loudly and ruffled the kid's hair.

"Well then, it looks like I'll have to teach you little brother," he said with a wide grin. Ace quickly forgot about his game of Hide and Seek all together as he learned about this strange and exciting thing called 'pranking' from his older brother.

-Line Break-

Luffy was curled up in a ball starting to feel incredibly bored. His epic hiding spot must have been too good if it was taking Ace this long to find him, and Luffy wasn't one for patience. Five minutes or so passed by and Luffy had all but given up on his hiding. If Ace was taking this long, Luffy knew he was going to have to re-teach his brother how to play Hide and Seek.

"What are you doing under there-yoi?" Marco asked, lifting up the blanket that Luffy had been hiding under.

"I'm playing Hide and Seek with Ace n' Sabo. Ace is seeking and I was hiding in my amazing hiding spot but Ace sucks at being it and hasn't found me yet," Luffy answered in disappointment, grabbing the blanket and wrapping himself in it.

"I don't think your hiding spot would have worked anyways, Luffy." Marco replied with a chuckle.

"What are you talkin' about? My hiding spot's the best!" Luffy pouted. Marco simply laughed.

"I do wonder about that-yoi." Luffy continued to pout at Marco, whose smile just grew.

"I'm getting a bit hungry, how about you?" he asked, knowing that it would definitely distract his brother since Luffy was always hungry.

"You bet I am!" Luffy shouted grabbing Marco's hand and letting the man lead him to the galley for food. When they arrived, however, Marco saw Thatch with his head low, whispering something Ace as they both wore massive grins. Stopping Luffy before he could enter the room, Marco motioned for Luffy to be super quiet.

Marco tried to listen in on the near-silent conversation to find out which division was about to be pranked, hoping against hope that his own and the second were safe. He could deal with helping another commander clean up Thatch's mess, but cleaning up his own division plus the other one that was without a commander would be annoying.

"Marcooooooo, food!" Luffy whined pulling on his hand in annoyance. Marco just patted his head and listened closely to Thatch. Hearing that his own division wasn't on the chopping block, he bent down to Luffy's level to talk to the kid eye-to-eye.

"Luffy, your big brothers are about to do something really crazy. I think it's probably better that we don't bother them for the time being. How about we go play somewhere else for a bit-yoi?" Marco asked, making the kid pout but nod and follow Marco anyways. He wanted a snack, but he knew dinner would be soon. He could wait just a little bit more.

Heading back towards Luffy's 'amazing' hiding spot, Marco grabbed the blanket and threw it around the kids' shoulders. Luffy looked at him in confusion before he was pulled into Marco's lap to cuddle for a loved cuddling, no matter who it was that was giving the cuddles. He thrived off of physical affection, and being hugged was one of his favorite things in the world! Next to meat and his straw hat of course. Sometimes, he would give hugs to everyone he came across just because he could.

"Did you know that there are people who live in the sky-yoi?" Marco asked. Luffy's eyes sparkled and he shook his head rapidly. Chuckling, he went on, "Well, there are people who live waaaay up in the sky, on top of the clouds. It's very hard to get to them, but every once in a while when the sun hits the sky just right, you can see their shadows hanging over you…" As Marco went on about these strange and miraculous people, Luffy was so absorbed that he didn't see Sabo walk by them looking for Ace.

-LineBreak-

To say that Sabo was annoyed would be a drastic understatement. In reality, he felt like might just kill Ace. They had been playing a game of Hide and Seek and Ace decided somewhere along the way that he wasn't going to look for them. Sabo had waited in his spot for what felt like hours (but was actually closer to 20 minutes) for Ace to find him, but he never did.

He came out of hiding to find Luffy had come to the same conclusion that Ace wasn't looking for them anymore and had curled up on Marco's lap to listen to a story. Sabo thought of joining them, but saw the way the two were deeply in their own world with just the two of them. He felt it would be rude to interrupt them, so he left.

Sabo continued to wander around the ship in hopes of finding Ace so he could vent his frustration. And by 'vent his frustration', he meant 'beat the ever loving crap out of the little bastard'. Beating up Ace would definitely relieve his frustration. It always did. As he was muttering to himself about how stupid Ace was, he caught sight of the 8th division commander, Namur.

Narmur was talking with others in his division when he spotted Sabo looking his way. He didn't know why the boy was watching him, but he figured it might be due to the way he looked. Being a fishman, he was used to be stared at, although usually it didn't happen too often at home. Beckoning Sabo over, he saw the kid blush in embarrassment at being caught staring, but he came over anyways.

"I…um…h-have you seen Ace at all?" Sabo stuttered, unsure of what to say after being caught. Namur laughed good naturedly.

"I can't say that I have. Word on the ship is that Thatch is up to something big, though, so perhaps he too took cover," Namur suggested. He knew Thatch was going to do something at breakfast when the man was humming at the table. That was usually everyone's first sign to either duck and cover or find out what he had done before it caused more trouble.

Sabo merely nodded, still staring at the fishman. "Is it true that the fishmen have their own island?" Sabo blurted out. "I know Luffy says there is, but I-I was just wondering..." he added, attempting to regain his dignity.

"It's true; it's a beautiful place where many pirates stop before entering the New World," Namur stated matter-of-factly. He was very proud of his home and how it was under Pops' protection.

"Wow! That's amazing! So there must be many pirates that the island has seen. How do they keep it so safe?" Sabo asked, his eyes turning towards Namur. Namur smiled, enjoying the curiosity of the little one.

"The island is under Pops' protection. No one would dare go against him, so those who travel to the island know to be good or face his wrath," Namur laughed, prompting Sabo to join in his amusement.

"You seem to like pirates, kid. I figured you'd want to be a marine being Garp's grandchild." Namur stated looking at the kid as Sabo grimaced.

"That old geezer's not my grandpa!" Sabo exclaimed, slightly confusing Namur as it was not what he had heard, but he accepted it.

"I like pirates because they're free…" Sabo continued his eyes looking sad and distant, as if remembering a misfortune of the past. Namur thought a child his age was too young to be inflicted with such sadness and felt the need to take it away from him.

"And if you became a pirate that would make you free?" Namur asked him seriously.

"Yes sir. Pirates can do as they please with no one to hold them back. I just want to sail the seas and write about my adventures for the world to remember someday." Sabo smiled. His grin wasn't quite up to Luffy standard, in how big or bright it was, but it sure brought a light of its own to the ship.

"Mnn... " Namur hummed, smiling at the kid. He knew that he was going to enjoy having this brat on board. Being on a ship full of cutthroats and brigands (even though they were the best and most loved ones around, being his family), he didn't often get the opportunity to engage in any semblance of intellectual conversation. With this remarkably intelligent child, he would definitely be getting that opportunity much more often. He felt like-no, he knew that he would greatly enjoy this brat's presence on the ship.

-Line Break-

When dinner rolled around Luffy was telling Sabo all about the people in the sky. Sabo listened because he knew Marco must have been the one to tell him this tale. Once he finished listening to Luffy he saw that Ace and Thatch had finally entered the Galley to eat their dinner, laughing their heads off of at something they only seemed to know. Sabo, feeling his temper rise, waited for Ace to sit down beside Luffy before standing up and punching the back of his head.

"Ouch! What the hell Sabo?!" Ace asked turning around fast in his seat.

"That's for ditching our game and making me wait for an hour!" he growled (it was actually 20 minutes). Ace's eyes widened, remembering that he was supposed to be "it".

"Oh. Yeah. Sorry about that," he stated nonchalantly, turning to his food. Sabo just closed his eyes twitching in irritation.

"You really suck at games Ace," Luffy added off handily, stealing a piece of Sabo's dinner.

"Well we'll have to work on that now, won't we?" Thatch said, putting an arm around Ace's shoulders and giving the kid a grin. Ace laughed at the idea before his head dropped right into his mashed potatoes.  
>The room fell silent for a moment, not quite sure what was going on. Sabo, having seen this before, smiled at the opportunity to get his revenge.<p>

"Ne, Izou, would you happen to have anything I could draw with?" Sabo asked the cross dresser overly sweetly. Izou raised a brow at the kid, but pulled out one of his liquid eye liner pencils he was going to discard after dinner due to it drying up quickly. Passing the black make-up to Sabo, he watched as the kid walked over to Ace, lifted his head up and began to connect the freckles on his cheeks.  
>Everyone couldn't stop themselves from laughing hysterically at the scene.<p>

"Does this happen often-yoi?" Marco asked, trying and failing to suppress a grin.

"Ace is narcoleptic, so yeah this does happen pretty often," Sabo smiled, letting his brother sleep in his dinner with black make-up covering his cheeks.

"I'd wake him up soon though..." Thatch cautioned. Sabo tilted his head in confusion.

"Luffy doesn't care what's in the way when food is involved. Ace won't get anything if he doesn't get up before Luffy's finished," he said with a shrug, making Sabo sigh before hitting Ace in the back of the head.

Ace jumped up in surprise and looked around before picking up his fork and continuing eating.

"Oh! I don't know if you've realized this yet, but Ace's appetite is probably just as big as Luffy's," Sabo said, smirking as Thatch paled. The little blonde couldn't help but smile as his revenge had been carried out on both Ace and Thatch. What a good day it had been.

**Hey everyone! I have a new chapter for you! :D So My beta and I have been on our last little bits of school and both working really hard. I have been literately drowning these past 2 weeks. (If I mentioned about drowning in homework before this little bit had taken it to a whole new level.) I had 5 presentations 20 papers (Not kidding I thought I was going to die!) and a bunch of case studies to write. All of this resulted in about 3 mental break downs and a serious case of "Why am I even trying?!" So there is my excuse :P **

**On to the chapter discussions... So I never probably mentioned this before but I chose to write this story due to the fact that I had ready 2 amazing stories focused on this idea and loved them. I looked for more but never could find anything that could match their amazingness or really much at all. So I figured in stead of waiting months and re-reading their chapters over and over again I would write my own and give it a go . The 2 stories I became more comfortable with were: "Some where to Belong" and "It takes a village- or a pirate crew" They were my inspiration so if you're interested and haven't read them check them out :) They were my inspiration and what helped me develop this story, I am now going to be moving more into the Boys growing and learning as the chapter progress so the children might not be children forever :)**

**I was asked to re-introduce Shanks back into the story at some point as well so I think I might just have to ;)**

**I chose Namur for Sabo to talk to because Sabo was a noble and we've seen how the nobles reacted to Fishman in the Auction House. I wanted Sabo to have been taught the norms of being rich and look down on people but to be curious and interested. I will have Sabo talk with other people and get to know more crew members as I go. :) Ace and Thatch, I figured they would make a wonderful pair :) As Luffy is with Marco I wanted a bit of that with Thatch and Ace. I have my next chapter written and my Beta has it :) It's going to be a fun one so keep watch :D Keep well guys! DR**


	23. Merry Christmas and Gifts!

**(Unbetaed so forgive my sloppy work ^_^;) **

Luffy was sitting on the figure head of the Moby Dick staring at the water like usual, he enjoyed watching the ripples from the ship on the surface and the sound of the waves hitting the ships side. Sometimes he just closed his eyes and listened for hours on end enjoying the freedom of the water.

The crew was heading back towards a winter island making their way ever closer to Saboady. Pops had decided that the boys were now accustomed to the Grand Lines weather changes and Doctor Myrah was watching over them to ensure no sickness happened, so it was back to the New World they were heading.

The crew wasn't actually planning on stopping off at the winter island but with some whining, and complaining and begging to Marco who in turn had to tell the navigation division the orders, the winter island was now part of the plan. Thatch smiled widely at the thought of spending Christmas in the snow.

For Thatch it wasn't the day or whatever meaning it came with that made him love the holiday, it was the meaning of family and being close together that made him smile. The nurses once told Luffy that Valentine's Day was to show your love for someone, Christmas was pretty much the same deal. This time was a chance to show his family how much he cared and appreciated them all for who they are.

The crew as a whole was way too big to just get everyone a present so they drew names from a hat and did their best to get that person a gift. Luffy had experienced Christmas many times before and loved the whole season-or maybe it was just the fact he got presents. Ace and Sabo how ever had never gone through this and had no clue as to why the ship was now being decorated and Luffy was wearing a red fuzzy hat on his head instead of his normal one.

Ace having lived with bandits his whole life never celebrated anything other than eating a good meal and being happy for that. Dadan did throw him something different for his birthday every once in a while, usually It was a new blanket or letting him have the first bite of dinner but nothing too special.

Luffy's name was never entered in the drawing since everyone wanted to buy him gifts, seeing the kid happy made the crew smile and now Ace and Sabo were part of the present exchanges whether they liked it or not.

The crew had known Christmas was coming for quite some time especially since the lively fourth division began to spread their versions of Christmas cheer. Sabo had been to Christmas parties with his original noble family a few times before and absolutely hated them! He hated the stuffiness and the comparing of who got the most expensive present there. He wasn't looking forward to Christmas even though he was away from those people; the memory of it still left a bad taste to him.

A few weeks before Thatch was walking along the streets of an island and saw in the window a bright orange hat. It was just sitting there begging to be worn but Thatch would never wear a hat, that would conflict with his amazing hair style after all. He however could think of one little brat that was missing a hat and that was sad in his eyes. Luffy wore his ever loving straw hat and Sabo had his large top hat, Ace was the only brat without something covering his dark wavy hair. Thatch couldn't let that go for very long so he bought the hat as a present for Christmas.

Marco had been walking with Izou and Vista checking out shops around the town in hopes to find something for the brats. Marco was just about to give up and by the kid some new clothes or something like that when Vista pointed out a small shop close by.

The shop had plenty of smaller weapons in it, training weapons to teach a child, but still weapons all the same. Luffy had been training with the commanders to get better at protecting himself and work on his aiming, which he still rather sucked at. Vista pointed out some wooden swords that the kid would probably like he knew Luffy was working with a metal pipe but the swords could help teach him better balance.

Izou saw a sling shot that he believed he could use to help train the kid to have a better aim and a grin began to form on the man's face at the thought of Luffy and him training more together.

Marco saw something a little less important in the back of the shop was a collection of bronze statues. Some of the statues were big and some were small but they all had that old feel to them that he knew the kid would love. The men bought what they saw for the children in the shop and left with lighter hearts and an excitement for Christmas coming up. Along the way they had picked up things for Sabo and Ace as well as buying their chosen person their present for the year all in all it was a pretty productive day.

Luffy being the ever hungry child he was, was sent as far away from the kitchen as possible while the cooks worked very hard on a feast for the special day. Because he wasn't allowed near the galley but could smell the delicious turkeys cooking everywhere on the ship Luffy decided to go to his special spot on the figure head to try and avoid the amazing smells.

"What cha doin'?" Sabo said climbing over the railing to sit with Luffy. Sabo wasn't sure the kid should be out here but figured if Marco hadn't stopped him he was relatively safe, Marco wouldn't let Luffy do anything dangerous while he was around.

"Just watching." Luffy replied while laid on his stomach his hands resting under his chin and his eyes turned up towards the ocean in front of him. Sabo sat down beside him and tried to see whatever Luffy was watching but found nothing.

"All I see is the ocean…" He trailed off hoping Luffy would explain whatever he was looking at.

"Mn, isn't it amazing?" He said with his grin Sabo shook his head and stuffed the straw hat onto Luffy's dark hair.

"What's going on with the crew today?" He asked finally not understanding the chaos that was happening around him Luffy just smiled wider sitting up.

"It's Christmas Eve!" Luffy said with a large cheer.

"And so what?" Ace came climbing over the railing towards the kids looking annoyed to find them somewhere he wasn't.

"Christmas is amazing! Santa comes and gives presents!" He threw his hands in the air in exaggeration.

"Santa? Isn't Santa for kids?" Sabo asked Luffy with an incredulous look.

"Santa is for everyone!" Luffy said to him in return giving Sabo a weird look Ace just looked between the two confused.

"Who the heck is Santa?" He asked making the kids laugh.

"Santa is a mystery man who bring presents!" Luffy explained seriously to Ace who in turn looked towards Sabo for a better explanation only for the kid to shrug his shoulders.

"Pretty much." He said with a smile.

"Well why does he do that?" Ace now more confused than before asked them Luffy laughed.

"It's a mystery!" and with that the kid got up and ran off somewhere else.

Sabo had never really learned about Santa since his family just bought stuff and said it was from them, either Santa didn't care for the nobles of the world-in which he didn't blame the guy- or he didn't exist.

Ace getting the hint that Luffy was off in search of either food or entertainment left the figure head in search of what the heck Santa was and why Luffy was excited to see him. Sabo sighed as he watched Ace wander off on his own and decided to go to the library to read up on things his own way. The three may be brothers now but they were very different in many ways from one another.

Ace wandered until he found Marco leaving Whitebeards room with a satisfied smile on his face.

"Yo." Ace said waving towards the man who smiled at the kid.

"Where's your brothers-yoi?" He asked looking down at the child who usually went everywhere the other two went. Marco had just dropped off all of his finished paper work to the old man and felt free now that he could spend Christmas without the knowledge he would be working the rest of the next day.

"I think Luffy has gone off to beg at the kitchens and Sabo well dunno it's not like I have to be with them all the time!" Ace said crossing his arms and pouting a bit Marco smiled wider at him.

"And what about you-yoi? Where are you heading?" He bent down to look at Ace better.

"I'm looking into who this Santa guy is and why he brings stupid presents to Luffy. He sound suspicious to me and Luffy's too innocent to know anything so I have to protect him." Ace said nodding his head and closing his eyes in determination to protect Luffy from this weirdo.

Marco laughed and loudly this was the first time anyone had said that to him especially a child.

"Why don't I tell you a story about this Santa guy to clear things up, sound good brat-yoi?" Marco said offering his hand out to Ace who hesitantly took it and let Marco lead him to the library where he found Sabo with a pile of books on one of the desks.

"Now what are you doing-yoi?" Marco asked looking at the pile in confusion

"I'm trying to find out why Luffy likes Christmas so much, I mean I've heard of it before even had times where I participated in it but not really sure why it's so important." He said with a shrug putting another book down sighing. Marco looked at the kids softly now getting what was going on, Luffy had probably mentioned Christmas and Santa to the boys and they were interested.

"Well I can explain things I guess…" Marco started waiting for Ace to pull up a chair beside Sabo to pay attention to Marco.

"I'm not giving you a huge back story, that's boring and we're pirates-or at least I am- so I'll give you what I think Christmas time is about-yoi." Marco said the boys nodded their head in understanding, Ace wasn't interested in a long story since he was pretty sure a narcoleptic fit was on its way sometime soon.

"Christmas is about family gathering and having a good time. Once a year we all gather together to appreciate that we are a family and even though we argue, have fights and drive each other up the walls we are still brothers and sisters under this flag." Marco said giving the kids and understanding of his Christmas and how he felt on the subject.

"Then what's with the presents is it someone's birthday?" Ace asked confused now about that part.

"No it's not any of our families birthday it's just a thing that's done on this day. A man named Santa Clause comes and gives presents for children who have been good that year, and if you were bad all you'll get is a lump of coal-yoi." He said pointing his finger in the air as a warning to being bad. The look on the kid's faces almost made Marco laugh they both looked terrified for some reason.

"W-we haven't been the best this year! What if Santa doesn't come at all!" Ace stammered out his eyes wide in worry.

"What can we do to make it up to Santa!? We don't even know what he looks like!" Sabo shouted in fear Marco really had to hold back his laughter.

"Well Santa is a big fat man who wears red and comes to give presents while the children are sleeping so don't worry about seeing him-yoi. What can you do to get back on his good list well…hmmmm… I know!" Marco said the kids looked up at him excited to do anything.

"You can go and help out Thatch get the tables ready for the feast that sounds like something Santa would be very happy to see you both do-yoi." Marco felt proud of this scheme and getting the kids to do some extra little bit.

"Right, we'll go and get Luffy to help out!" They said jumping up but Marco stopped them quickly.

"Luffy's been pretty good this year so I think he's safe-yoi. Why don't you let me handle him?" The boys looked at each other and nodded their heads in understanding before running off towards the kitchen to see what they can do to help get back on the good list. Marco chuckled quietly while walking towards the main deck to see Luffy now dressed in a reindeer onsie he guessed the nurses had forced him into.

"You look rather cozy kid." Marco said kneeling down to look at Luffy fully the onsie was exactly like a reindeer's body with brown fuzzy fabric, a small tail on the kids behind and a hood with antlers over his head. Luffy smile brightly at his big brother and nodded his head actually liking his clothing but only wished it was red and not brown.

"Mn! Nurse Hana told me it would keep me warm and she was right!" He said while wrapping his arms around Marco's neck allowing the man to pick the kid up.

"Since you're dressed like a reindeer would you like to hear a story about a magical one-yoi?" He asked the kid and watched his eyes sparkle in wonder.

Bringing Luffy over to a small part of the ship they sat down Luffy on Marco's lap and he told Luffy all about Rudolf the red nosed reindeer who helped save Christmas by the end Luffy was determined to make a reindeer his friend one day, Marco just wished him luck and laughed.

Once dinner rolled around Thatch had made the most delicious meal the two younger boys had ever had before. Luffy had experienced this type of Christmas many times in his short life so he was use to this, Ace and Sabo not so much. Thatch thanked Marco for getting the brats to help him out without any problems and congratulated him on the fantastic idea of using Santa to his advantage. Once dinner finished Marco made the kids take a warm bath and let them play around for a bit longer before bed.

The three were chasing each other around on the deck when Luffy stopped running and looked up at the sky White beard was sitting on his throne watching his youngest sons play and smiled at the littlest one.

"It's snowing!" Luffy shouted as a snow flake landed on his nose and melted the other kids stopped and looked on in wonder before Marco came out to check on them seeing the snow.

"All right brats' it's bed time-yoi." Pops stood up also meaning that it really was time for bed the boys groaned.

"But we're not tired Marco!" Sabo whined Ace and Luffy nodded their heads in agreement and Marco was about to reply but pops cut in.

"If you don't go to sleep Santa can't come." He stated and all eyes widened at their father they couldn't risk Santa missing them because they were awake so they all said their good nights and headed off to their room for bed.

"I wonder just how long we will be able to use that for." Thatch said from beside Marco who shook his head

"This will probably be the only year for Sabo and Ace they're too smart to continue to believe in Santa Clause. Luffy is another matter, for him who knows?" Marco said shaking his head at the kids

"Well shall we get their presents ready for the morning?" Thatch asked and all present nodded their heads gathering up the brat's gifts they would do a proper exchange in the morning for one another but for the kids they wanted them to wake up and see all the gifts ready for them.

When morning came the kids burst from their room towards a commander who directed them towards pop's chair where presents all piled around it. Ace's eyes widened in excitement never had anyone ever given him a wrapped present before.

Sabo was just in as much shock as Ace looking at all the presents and this time there wasn't any one sticking their noses up or complaining, it was perfect. Luffy was impatient and jumped towards the pile ready to open ones with his name on them.

"Hold up kid." Thatch said grabbing Luffy around the middle before he could tear through everything.

"Why don't we let your brothers open a present first?" He said smiling down to Luffy and was happy to get a nod in return.

Luffy sat down in front of the presents while the two boys moved closer to see which one's were for them. The whole crew came to surround the kids excited to see the unwrapping and the gifts that they would get.

Ace pulled a large square present from the pile and opened it carefully not to damage the wrapping paper once he finished he opened the lid on a box and found a bright orange cow boy hat with a chain of a sad face and a grinning face on it. Ace smiled widely towards the hat before putting it on his head in delight.

"Wow Ace! Santa brought you a hat!" Luffy said excitedly Ace blushed and nodded his head happy to have a gift of his own. Thatch's grin couldn't have been wider he was so happy the kid liked the hat and that he had stumbled upon that shop.

Sabo opened his present but unlike Ace he rushed to get the paper off of the gift. When he opened it up he saw a leather bound book and a pen with and Ink beside it. Sabo smiled softly looking at the gift when Haruta sat down beside him.

"It's a journal so you can keep track of your experiences both good and bad so no memory is left forgotten." She said and Sabo nodded loving his gift so much.

Luffy knew that it was his turn and he opened up a gift that was long and like Sabo wasted no time unwrapping the paper. When he opened the box he saw a long wooden training sword and his eyes lit up in excitement.

"Looks like Santa would like you to become the greatest swordsman around." Vista said while Marco rolled his eyes like that would ever happen.

Ace realizing it was his turn again opened up another present to find clothing and he was grateful he didn't really have much good clothing so anything was wonderful to him.

Sabo opened up to find maps and books about navigation and how to learn it.

Luffy opened his presents to find the sling shot making Izou counter Vista's words with how Luffy would become the true king of snipers in this world Marco just shook his head at the two.

The boys continued to open presents getting a lot of gifts from "Santa" and Luffy loved his bronze statue of a knight, he swore to treasure it always making Marco smile widely knowing that Luffy would love that. Once they had all finished unwrapping their gifts and showing them off Marco and Thatch helped the kids put their gifts away and turned them towards the galley for brunch.

White Beard smiled at his youngest children happy to see them so happy. He knew from their looks that the elder boys may not have ever experienced this before and hoped there would be more things in this coming new year for them to learn and grow from, after all they were his children now and forever.

This Christmas may have been a bit more lively for them all but all in all it was the best one around in Marco's eyes since he got to see Luffy smile and Ace and Sabo experience what being a part of a family was supposed to feel like, everyone was happy and the crew never looked brighter.

**Hey everyone! I hope you all had a fantastic holidays! I've been super busy with ending school, going home (I live 3 hours away from my family) and getting ready to start school again once more (My final semester!) so please forgive me for being gone so long! This chapter is a filler chapter but I felt here is a Christmas present to my wonderful readers ^^. I value kindness and happiness over anything else in this world and try to bring that about in my writing. This chapter isn't betaed and I questioned if I should wait or not since I really love what my beta does to my chapters but I felt the need to give the readers a gift :)**

**This is my longest chapter written yet! I plan to start writing longer chapters in the future( my next 2 chapters are shorter forgive me! I've looked one of them over to see what i could do and decided against touching it :) ) so they might come slowly but it will have more to them. Did you all catch the little references in my chapter ;) hee hee I had fun doing that :)**

**Now to end this I'd like to say Happy belated birthday to Chopper and Ace! and Thank you all for sticking with me this past few months! I hope to continue to have all of your support once again in this new year :D Keep well everyone! DR**


	24. Ace's Birthday

**(un-betaed)**

Ace knew it was coming, the day he hated most in this world. Right after Christmas there was now a bright feeling in his heart that he had never truly felt before; he was so into that new feeling he forgot the day that comes quickly after it, his birthday.

New Year's Day was a day when everyone celebrated the beginning of a new year but for him it was a reminder that he was even allowed to be born into this world and he _hated_ it.

Unfortunately for Ace Sabo mentioned this little fact to the loud and excitable Luffy and Luffy mentioned it to every passing person on the large ship. The one day he would like to forever forget was now about to be celebrated and he could do nothing to stop it.

"So I hear it's your birthday soon?" Thatch said leaning against a wall while Ace just closed his eyes and tried to keep calm

"And what of it? It's just another year, no big deal." He snarled to the man who looked shocked at this.

"Ace, this is a huge deal! You're turning 11 years old! Soon you'll be a teenager we need to celebrate your youth while we have the chance!" Thatch said dramatically ignoring the kids tone of voice for now, Ace rolled his eyes at the man in annoyance.

"Really, it's not a big deal. I'd rather no one actually remembered my birthday and just had a normal day." He said shrugging his shoulders and walking away. Thatch wasn't going to allow this to go on a kid not wanting to celebrate his own birthday, what was wrong with that child!? Thatch knew he would have to make it the best birthday yet.

Before Thatch could actually know how to celebrate the brat's birthday he would have to do some digging for information. Just why did the kid hate his birthday so much? Luffy loves his birthday heck even he loved his birthday-but will refuse to tell you his age. He knew that Luffy had no other information or he would have already given it up, but Sabo he just might be what Thatch was looking for.

Unfortunately for Thatch Sabo seemed to realize that the crew might want information and made himself as hard to catch as possible even using Luffy to escape from the many siblings on the ship. Thatch had been chasing the kid around for about a day when he finally cornered him.

"You can't out run me forever kid, I just want to talk." He said putting his hands up as a surrendering, peacemaking, friendly way in hopes the kid wouldn't pull some sort of Ninja stuff and disappear.

"I'll never say anything!" Sabo said defiantly making Thatch inwardly groan.

"I just want to know why Ace hates his birthday, it's not like I'm asking you to spill his life story." But Sabo refused to let up.

"If he has a reason then it's his reason to tell." He glared at the commander. Sabo knew Ace's reason even Luffy sort of knew Ace's reason but it was Ace's job to tell others not his or Luffy's.

"We just want to do a small celebration nothing big; I just want to know why he won't even let us do that." Thatch said softly and Sabo did feel bad about not telling them but still...

"I'm sorry, but it's not my place to tell you." Sabo sighed looking down now feeling guilty.

"If I asked Ace would he tell me the reason?" Thatch questioned the kid who shook his head.

"Most likely not, he hates his birthday almost as much as his-" Sabo's eyes widened and he placed his hands over his mouth and looked up at Thatch shocked. Thatch raised his brow at the kid hoping to get him to go on but Sabo took a step back and bolted away quickly.

"Well that was interesting… Almost as much as what dare I ask?" He was happy to have gotten a clue even if it was unintended.

Later that day Thatch caught up to Luffy who looked up at him with bright sparkling eyes.

"So are we gunna have a party for Ace?" Luffy asked excitedly.

"I don't think so kid, Ace doesn't want us to." Thatch said with disappointment and Luffy looked devastated.

"But it's his birthday! Birthdays are fun!" Luffy pleaded to the man who understood the wonderful thing called birthdays.

"Ace doesn't seem to like his birthday so it might be a good idea not to do anything Lu." Luffy's eyes widened and a spark of understanding shot through those dark brown eyes.

"Maybe it's because of-" and Luffy let go of Thatch's hand and took off again making the brunet very curious as to what was going on that he didn't know about.

Luffy found Sabo and Ace in their room playing a game of cards just as he burst through the door.

"Do you not like your birthday because of your dad?" Luffy blurted out making Sabo's mouth drop and Ace scowl.

"And what do you know of anything!" Ace stood up and pounded the kid on the top of his head making a bump grow.

"Because I know you don't like him but that doesn't mean you don't need to like you birthday!" Luffy exclaimed while nursing the bump growing as Ace pounded him once more causing another to grow on top.

"It doesn't matter!" He shouted and stomped out of the room Sabo sighed and looked at the kid who now had a tear in his eye and his hand on his sore head.

"You know just what to say to piss people off you know that right…" Sabo sighed a little more and knelt down to the kid who had now turned his head to the side in confusion.

"What do ya mean?" He whined and Sabo patted his back a bit before helping him back on his feet.

"Let's go talk with Ace, kay?" Sabo smiled and took Luffy's hand hoping to find the hot head before any more trouble could be done.

The boys hand in hand wandered the ship looking for Ace while Thatch retreated to the kitchen deciding to work on lunch rather than mope about not being able to celebrate a birthday.

It was during this time that Ace walked into the kitchen and pulled a stool up towards the counter to sit on. Thatch watched the kid from the corner of his eyes curious as to why the kid decided to come visit him after all the questioning he had done.

"Ne," He said Thatch put down the knife he was using to pay attention to the kid giving him permission to continue on.

"Do you think it was good that I was born?" Ace asked quietly looking at the floor away from Thatch who frowned at the question.

"No, I don't." He said softly Ace closed his eyes in acceptance.

"I think it was better than good, I think it is the most wonderful thing." Ace looked up at the man quickly

"But you just said-!" He was cut off by a hand on his shoulder Thatch smiled kindly at the kid.

"You're here and that makes me and so many people happy! By you being born Luffy and Sabo have a friend to play with, fight with and love dearly. By you being here I have a little brother now to take care of and teach until he's grown. By you being here Luffy was able to meet Sabo and he was able to meet you. I don't think it was good that you were born; I think it was essential that you were born Ace. You bring a new type of happiness to this ship, to this family and I can't even remember what it was like before you and Sabo, Ace." Thatch said to the kid whose eyes had widened and were starting to sting with emotions he refused to show.

"I-is that why you want to celebrate my birthday?" He said softly his voice shaky and his throat tight.

"I like to remind everyone on this ship that this is one more year they have lived being a family. You're a part of the family now Ace, each year I want to now remind you that you're very loved by us that's all." He said and Ace bit his lip really fighting hard now.

"It's alright kid, we don't need to celebrate just know that we do care for you." He said softly pulling Ace in for one of his big hugs and Ace responded for the first time ever taking deep breaths to calm himself down he pulled away and looked at Thatch.

"Maybe we can do something super small…" He said and Thatch smiled a bit wider.

"Just with us?" and Ace nodded. Thatch knew that it was a start, that Ace was opening his heart up to him but wasn't completely ready to open to the whole crew yet.

"Just you, Luffy, Sabo and I?" Ace nodded again

"Alright, we'll celebrate tonight in my room after dinner sound okay?" Ace looked confused.

"But my birthday isn't for another 3 days." He said but Thatch shook his head.

"You don't like that day right? Until the day you do like your birthday we'll celebrate on a different day." Thatch crossed his arms and nodded satisfied at his logic making Ace laugh at him.

"Alright, sounds fair." He said before waving at his friend and running off to relay the information to Luffy and Sabo.

"Looks like I have a cake to make tonight." He said with a smile hoping Ace liked Chocolate.

After dinner Sabo, Luffy and Ace all excused themselves from a very curious Marco and followed Thatch to his room where he had set up the chocolate strawberry cake for Ace and a few bored games on the desk.

Ace saw the cake and he froze he had never had a cake before.

"Look Ace, a cake!" Luffy went running right away towards it but Thatch caught him and shook his head.

"It's Ace's birthday he gets the first slice and there's plenty for everyone." He said and Luffy turned towards Ace who was still shell shocked and he shook his head at the kid.

"Luffy may be patient because it's your birthday but even he won't last long so come get a slice brat." He said to Ace who took a step forward slowly towards the cake.

Once everyone had a slice they decided what game they wanted to play first and got down to it. Luffy always seemed to end up with way more cards by the end of those games then when he started which made everyone laugh. It wasn't a big celebration like Thatch was use to but this time he spent with the brats around him was valuable and would be treasured always. Ace for the first time in his life loved his birthday and had a new discovery for his love of chocolate cake. It was also a rare time for him to laugh so much and with a wide smile he couldn't wait until next year when they would do this all over again.

**Hey everyone! so another filler chapter I'm so sorry! _ I'm actually having a really REALLY bad night and thought I needed something to up my spirits. Writing is my way of self care since it allows me to vanish from my world into the hearts of this one. I didn't use Marco in this because I wanted to focus more on Thatch and Ace's relationship growing. I start my placement tomorrow whether I keep it or not is another thing T~T. Wish me luck guys!DR**


	25. Shanks, Bandits and Seakings

(**Unbetaed)**

"Shanks's coming! Shanks's coming! Shanks's coming!" Luffy shouted while running around the Moby Dick in pure happiness, Marco felt a head ach coming on but smiled any ways for the kid.

"Yes I'm afraid he is-yoi." He sighed while Luffy cheered some more at this information.

"Who's Shanks?" Ace asked Marco who looked down at the kid a shadow covering his face.

"The most annoying man you will ever meet in your life." He said seriously Ace took a step back and gave Marco a weird look.

"H-how so?" Sabo asked from beside Ace looking at Marco weirdly.

"Just picture a grown, drunk Luffy with red hair and you have the man known as Shanks-yoi." He sighed while Ace and Sabo's eyes widened in horror.

"Then why is he coming here?!" Sabo exclaimed not that excited to see that version on his little brother.

"Because he is one of the four emperors just like pops, he's also Luffy's idol unfortunately." Thach said joining the conversation and Marco sighed once again.

"Of all the people Luffy could look up to Shanks would be it. Seriously why didn't he ever look up to me that way? I've known him longer-yoi." Marco said annoyed at the man already Thatch laughed and patted Marco on the shoulder.

"You're his brother and Shanks is someone outside of the family, someone he can watch from a distance. He does look up to you Marco he just does it in a different way, that's all." Marco gave Thatch a grateful smile while the two boys looked confused at the grown men.

"How long till he gets here then?" Sabo asked still afraid of the description of the man but excited to meet another that had the same title as his pops.

"Soon enough-yoi." Marco said before he headed off to chase after the hyper child.

Luffy was excited; he hadn't seen Shanks is almost 2 years! He couldn't wait to show him how much he had grown since he first got his hat. He had worked really hard on controlling his gomu powers but his aim was still a struggle for him.

He really was trying it was just so hard! He was taught to imagine the exact spot he wanted to hit and he did but he always missed it a little bit. He wanted to be stronger first then aim but Izou kept scolding him saying strength was nothing if he couldn't hit his target. He didn't understand so he just did what he always did and hoped for the best.

"Ne Luffy, what's Shanks really like?" Ace asked Luffy who brightened at the thought of the man.

"He's so cool! He's super strong and can do anything! He likes to party a lot and I got my gomu gomu no mi from him." Luffy's grin was almost splitting his face.

"He's really strong?" Sabo asked him and Luffy nodded his head quickly

"Mn! Thatch said that he was as strong as pops!" He shouted and Sabo covered his ears quickly from the noise.

"Calm down Luffy you're hurting my ears!" He exclaimed at the kid in annoyance who only laughed.

"Shishishi sorry." He smiled not sounding sorry at all before running off to see the old man.

"Pops! When is Shanks coming?!" He shouted up at the old man who just laughed at the kid knowing he would be this excited.

"Soon enough my son, we are planning on meeting on the closest island." He smiled down at the kid who was now climbing his leg to sit on his lap.

"He's not coming here?!" Luffy began to pout.

"No, it's safer to meet at an island under my protection. Think of it this way little one, you get to have an adventure and see Shanks all in the same day." He knew that would catch the kid's attention.

"Adventure and Shanks…?" He trailed off his eyes shining brightly at the thought only a plateful of meat could make this any better.

"How much longer?" He asked his father and Luffy's eyes were wide and bright making the old man's heart swell for the boy.

"We will be there in an hour; if you go to the figure head you can see the island from here." He pointed his large hand in the distance they were traveling. Luffy jumped off his lap and waved good bye before rushing to see the island from the spot.

Lying on his stomach Luffy stared at the approaching island a wide grin on his face and his hands tugging on the sides of the hat in anticipation.

"Shanks…" He said to himself closing his eyes remembering the time he spent with the man.

Marco was watching from his spot above at the kid a twinge of jealousy at the rival emperor for having hold of the kid's heart like this. He couldn't help however to smile softly at the way Luffy was acting. He knew Luffy loved them all but Shanks was on a level higher than them, lower than pops but more than Marco and Thatch. He shook his head to clear out the dark thoughts of being less loved then Red Haired Shanks and tried to feel the excitement the kid was letting off, everything was going to be alright and Luffy would have some fun.

When they were close enough to the island Luffy spotted the _Red Force_ anchored at the docks and practically vibrated at the thought of seeing Shanks again, Ace and Sabo were a little shaken around how Luffy was reacting to the man so they watched him closely.

When the large ship anchored at the docks many people were there to greet the crew but Luffy went running straight off and towards a man with bright red hair jumping in the air and hugging the man around the middle.

"Luffy!" He laughed out loudly making Luffy just hug him tighter.

"Shanks, I missed you." He said putting his face into the man's shirt hiding the tears of happiness he felt coming.

"I missed you too kid. You're taking care of my hat right?" He said patting the kid on the head the straw hat dangling around his neck.

"Mn!" He said letting Shanks go and pulling the hat onto his head tightly.

"I can't give it back to you yet though." He said seriously making Shanks laugh once again

"Dahahaha! Of course you can't! You're not a pirate yet! Dahahaha!" Luffy felt his eye twitching.

"I so am a pirate! I'm just a mini one!" Luffy stomped his foot onto Shanks's foot in annoyance and the man grabbed his foot in pain.

"A brat is still a brat." He said nursing his sore foot now and smiled when he saw Marco standing behind Luffy his hand on his hip and a look of annoyance on his lazy face.

"Marco, it's been a while! Do you want-." He was cut off rather sharply by Marco who glared at the emperor.

"Never-yoi." He said and shanks laughed.

"Just checking, Luffy how about we go get some lunch it's been a long time I bet you have some good stories to tell me." Luffy nodded his head and took Shanks's hand letting the man lead him away from the crew he waved goodbye to Marco quickly then disappeared into the crowd of people with Shanks.

"Do you want us to follow them Marco?" Ace asked the blond never taking his eyes off of the way Luffy went.

"Nah let them be. Shanks's a weird man but he does care about Luffy. He'll protect him from anything and everything." He said his own eyes watching the direction they went to memorizing it just in case something happened.

"If you say so.." Ace said but shrugged his shoulders in acceptance.

"So that's the man Luffy looks up to?" Sabo said while thinking the description of the man was spot on, a drunken older Luffy with red hair.

"Yeah, Luffy got his hat from Shanks and made a promise with him to become a strong pirate someday-yoi." Marco said leading the kids towards the town to walk around with them.

"Is that why he wants to be the pirate king?" Ace said looking at the ground as he said those words.

"Probably that's a part of the reason but not all of it. Pops told Luffy old tales of the Pirate King and Luffy really liked them. When the dream started I'm not sure but it's not like we've really done anything to stop this dream. If anything I don't really mind having Luffy become the king, if he can prove he's strong enough for the title then it would make me proud to call the next king my brother-yoi." Marco said with a thoughtful smile on his face while Ace just stared at the man really taking in his words.

Luffy had a big dream, one that man other pirates have and one that man other pirates have given up on. Ace wasn't sure what his dream was, he knew he wanted his name to be known but how? Where did he need to start for that? Was that really a dream or was it just a wish? Ace was so caught up in his own mind he walked into a stranger by accident.

"Watch where you're going you stupid brat!" A man who looked and smelled like a bandit sneered at Ace making Marco stop in his tracks to glare at the man.

"I could say the same to you-yoi." He said back to the bandit calmly but all could hear the ice in his voice warning the stranger that fighting Marco was out of the question. The bandit sneered once more and walked off complaining of needing a drink to drown them out.

"I smell trouble…" Sabo said from beside Marco who was helping Ace back on his feet when the brunette wrinkled his nose in response.

"You sure trouble is what you smell? I smell bandit and man does he need a shower!" Ace replied waving his hand over his nose making Sabo laugh and Marco smile.

"Common brats let's keep moving." And they headed off into town.

**-Line Break-**

"So Ace and Sabo they didn't really like me at first but we're cool now! I got beaten up really bad though before we became friends that hurt a lot! The guy had a spiked glove and he kept hitting me! I was sorta scared then Marco and Thatch came in all cool like and fought off the bad guys! I was tired though I mean I was hit really REALLY hard a lot! I wasn't scared that badly, I knew they would come for me." Luffy said to Shanks who listened to the kid at the bar table he took in the kids words and felt concern at the thought of him being hurt.

"Those kid's juts left you there? Why did you want to be their friend any ways Lu? I mean they abandoned you with someone you didn't know, you could have been killed…" Shanks said worry in his voice

"I wouldn't have minded…" This caught Shanks's attention.

"Being alone hurts; it hurts so much that I'd rather die than feel that pain." Luffy had stopped eating his meat and Shanks watched him closely

"You're never alone kid." He said seriously

"I know but not everyone has time to be with me, they all have bigger things to do and I'm still small there was no one to play with." He said his meat now completely ignored.

"Bu you're friends now right?" He said trying to get the kid away from the sadness and it worked when Luffy brightened

"More than that! We're brothers and if anyone ever tries to hurt them I'll beat them up! " Shanks smiled at those words he'd have to meet the two brats and make sure they understood Luffy was to be protected by them at all times.

"Oh will you?" He laughed out making Luffy scowl and stand up on his bar stool

"Of course! My punch is as strong a pistol!" And he mock punched the air to emphasize his point but Shanks took a bite of his food and smiled again.

"A pistol? Right…Sure.." he said off handily causing Luffy's brow to twitch in annoyance

"What's that supposed to mean!?" He shouted at the man

Shanks was about to mention something unimportant when the door to the bar opened suddenly with a bang on the wall making Luffy turn his head to stare at the person who made the noise. Shanks's crew and Benn all stopped talking and watched the man curiously as he and a group of people came strolling into the room.

"Serve me and my men up the best Sake in this joint." He said and Shanks who was sitting beside Luffy became protective of the kid and turned his back towards Luffy putting the kid behind him ever so slightly on the bar stool. Marco would never forgive him if Luffy was hurt in his presence.

"I'm sorry sir; we've just run out of Sake…" The waitress said nervously and the man raised his eye brow.

"Then just what are these stupid pirates drinking, water?" He asked waving his hand towards the crew who were ready in case of anything but didn't move at all.

"They're drinking Sake but they just finished the very last of it." She said trying to keep calm Shanks waved his hand in the air signaling the man over.

"Here, my men drank a lot but I do have this once bottle left over why don't you have it." He said in good nature that the man didn't seem to appreciate. He looked right at Shanks before lifting his hand up and shattering the bottle sending the Sake and Glass everywhere.

Luffy pushed himself back in surprise at the sudden amount of liquid spilling everywhere and the waitress covered her mouth in shock.

"I'm a bandit worth 8 million berri one bottle of Sake isn't going to be enough" He said while Sake dripped off of Shanks's red hair. When Shanks looked up he had a look of worry on his face.

"Ahhh now the floor's all wet; sorry about that Ms. Waitress do you have a mop?" And Shanks got on the ground and stated to clean up the mess that was made. She came out of her shock and began to run and help shanks clear up the mess in a panic.

The bandit pulled out his sword still glaring at Shanks and sliced it along the bar counter shattering everything spilling drink everywhere Luffy was shocked into silence and couldn't move.

"If there's no Sake here then I'm wasting my time, later idiot pirates." And with that the bandits left howling in laughter at the mess they had created. Luffy was now shaking holding onto his glass he had never been so angry before how dare they do that to Shanks!

Shanks was on the floor covered in sake and a blank expression on his face the waitress came over to help him asking if he was okay.

"Ahh I'm alright there's no problem." He said before looking up and laughing loudly and the crew laughed just as loud

"He really got you captain!" Yasopp shouted tears in his eyes from laughing so hard

"How shameful!" Another shouted laughing and Shanks laughed loudly among them the only one not laughing was Luffy.

"Why are you laughing!?" He shouted at the crew who all stopped to look at him in shock

"Hmm?" Shanks said to the kid who jumped to the ground and balled his hands into fist and shouted right at Shanks

"That was embarrassing why didn't you fight back?! So what if you were outnumbered, you should have fought like a real man! Aren't you supposed to be a pirate?!" She shouted very quickly at Shanks stomping his foot. Shanks brushed his hand through his hair and smiled softly at the kid.

"I understand how you feel but it's just spilled sake, nothing to get crazy about." He said and gave a small grin at Luffy who just made a face and began to walk away.

"Screw that, I'm not going to be a weakling. I'm going to find Marco." Shanks sighed and shook his head at the kid but let him go Luffy would find Marco and hopefully the pineapple head guy would explain it better to then kid.

Luffy walked around town huffing out in anger, how dare they do that to Shanks and how dare shanks not fight back! Marco and Thatch would have fought back! He didn't know shanks was that weak! He was wondering around when he saw the same bandit sitting outside laughing and talking loudly about how they beat up and humiliated a bunch of weak pirates.

"Did you see their faces?! Such weaklings!"

"Cowards the lot of them!" Another said and hit his knee in laughter

"I should have just killed them all right there and then." The leader said cockily to his group and Luffy had about enough of them. If Shanks wouldn't stand up to them he sure as hell would.

"Shut up you big buffoon!" Luffy shouted at the bandits who all stopped what they were doing and stared at the kid.

"Hey, wasn't he with those coward pirates?" One of them asked suddenly and the leader raised his eye brow in interest.

"I said stop making fun of Shanks!" and Luffy ran at the man trying to punch him only to be knocked down by the bandit.

"And what if I don't feel like it?" He said with a slimy smile

"Then I'll kick your ass!" Luffy shouted and the bandits laughed.

"Such a foul mouthed little boy why don't I teach you a lesson!" and he punched Luffy in the stomach making him land on the ground hard.

One of the villagers knew that Luffy was a part of the White Beard crew and wanted to end this trouble without getting the captain involved so the villager ran as fast as she could to the mayor explaining what she had seen and they moved quickly to defuse the situation before the pirate crew could cause trouble.

By the time the mayor got there the bandit was holding Luffy up by his cheek looking at the kid in interest as it stretched out in his hands before he smiled.

"Your body sure is interesting…."He said with a laugh looking Luffy over in interest.

Shanks had cleaned himself up and was walking through town hoping to find Luffy and have a good talk when he ran into Marco Thatch and the two other kids who all looked shocked not to see Luffy with any of them.

"Where's Luffy-yoi?" Marco said his voice tight with a worry now there.

"We uh, had a fight I guess you can say. He told me he was going to find you." Shanks said rubbing his head and smiling slightly Marco sighed loudly

"And why did you fight?" Thatch said that was very unusual for Luffy to act like that.

"Well you see…" He started but then heard a bunch of commotion coming from a street over Benn who was behind Shanks raised his brow and the few members of Shanks crew looked on in curiosity.

"Shall we go see what's going on?" He said with a smile and they all headed towards the noise only to see Luffy being pushed around by a bandit.

Blue flames started to lick Marco's shoulders and his eyes narrowed Thatch's hand moved towards his sword but Shanks kept a calm face.

"Stay here." He said and started to walk forward.

"Ahh it looks like punches and kicks don't do any damage to you." The bandit said very interested in the kid now.

"Dammit say you're sorry!" Luffy shouted trying to punch the bandit Ace and Sabo were glaring at the man holding Luffy in the air ready to jump in at any given second.

"A rubber person huh? I never imagined such a strange creature could exist" He said looking at Luffy who swore at the bandit and tried to punch him some more. The bandit swung his arm and Luffy went flying into the ground and bounced a bit before stopping.

"Shit! I won't ever forgive you!" Luffy shouted at the man and Ace and Sabo nodded their heads in agreement they would never forgive this man.

"A rubber person huh? I bet I could make a lot of money if I sold him at Saboady…" he placed his hand under his chin in thought Marco had enough his flames were now starting to flare. How dare this man talk of selling his little brother, his little Luffy, Marco was going to kill the man for those words but Benn held onto his shoulder.

"Leave it to Shanks." He said sternly and Marco glared at the vice-captain.

Luffy had grabbed a stick from the ground and began to run at the man hoping to hit him only to be kicked in the head by the bandit and knocked down.

"Please can I go kick his ass?" Ace said never taking his eyes off of Luffy he was gritting his teeth so hard his jaw as hurting.

"Leave this to Shanks." Once again Benn said to the group.

The bandit was now standing with his foot on Luffy's head and he was smiling down at the kid.

"All I wanted was to have a nice drink did I say something you didn't like?" He asked Luffy who was struggling to get back up.

"Yes you did apologize!" the bandit sneered at Luffy and pulled out his sword

"Fine, I've decided I'm not going to sell you I'm going to kill you instead right here and now." And he placed the sword at Luffy's throat Marco had enough screw what Benn had said he was stepping in. He took a step forward when Shanks caught Luffy's attention.

Shanks walked up to the bandit a smile on his face and his eyes over shadowed from the bright sun.

"I was wondering where you had gone to Luffy, didn't you say you were looking for Marco?" He said suddenly stopping in front of the bandit. Benn and the group walked past Marco, Thatch and the kids to stand behind Shanks supporting him.

"If it isn't the bandits from earlier, Luffy didn't you say that your punch was as strong as a pistol?" Shanks asked the kid never taking his eyes off of the bandit.

Luffy glared at shanks annoyed he would remind him of that.

"You shut up!" He said from under the bandit's foot.

"Pirate you're still here? Are you done cleaning already?" He asked Shanks with a grin while Marco and Thatch were confused now on the situation. Shanks clean? Please like that will ever happen!

Shanks took steps forwards still glaring at the bandit who seemed to not realize he was in danger.

"I don't know why you're here but I suggest you run away before you get hurt. If you come any closer you're a dead man, coward!" He said pointing his sword at Shanks now who just ignored him and continued to walk forward another bandit stepped into Shanks's path and snarled at him.

"Didn't you hear what he said?" He cocked his gun and pointed it at Shanks's head "Don't take another step or I'll blow your brains out." He said and Shanks stopped walking.

"Now that you've drawn your pistol I assume you're ready to put your life on the line." Shanks said suddenly taking his eyes off the leader and looking at the bandit beside him.

"Huh? What are you talking about?" He said confused.

"I'm saying that a pistol isn't for threats it's for action." Shanks smiled at the bandit who looked very confused now as Lucky snuck up and shot the bandit in the head making the kids eyes widen in surprise.

Luffy had seen people get shot before but not that close up. Izou always made sure Luffy was at a safe distance whenever there was a fight and Pops was always there to protect him.

The bandits looked at the dead man in surprise then looked up at the pirates while Lucky took a bite of his meat.

"You killed him how could you do that you cowards!?" one of them said suddenly in shock.

"Cowards? Don't be naive! Do you think you're dealing with saints?" Benn said glaring at the bandits.

"The people in front of you are pirates. Listen bandits, you can throw food and drink on my head and I'll laugh that off but if you for whatever reason hurt one of my friends I'll never forgive you." Shanks now glared fully at the bandit who just began to laugh not realizing anything. Thatch sighed putting his sword away

"Idiots I hope Shanks's gives it to them." Thatch said Marco also sighed and relaxed, when Shanks got like this the bandits stood no chance.

"We're not going to fight?" Sabo asked the men in confusion.

"Shanks is an emperor just as much as pops is. If they wanted to fight Shanks they would need to call out Garp for the task-yoi." Marco said rolling his eyes.

"Will not forgive you said?" The leader said cocking his head at shanks "Pirates who float around on the sea challenging bandits? What a joke!" and pointed at Shanks "Kill them all men!" He shouted to his group.

Shanks was about to take a step forwards but Benn moved faster.

"I'll take care of them, I'm more than enough." He said pulling his rifle out of his sash and staring at the bandits he pulled his cigarette out of his mouth and burned the forehead of the first bandit to come his way and began to use the back of his rifle to hit the bandits down. Once all were brutally beaten to the ground Benn lit up another smoke while everyone watched in shock. He pointed he rifle at the leader who had his mouth hanging open staring at his fallen men around him.

"Don't flatter yourself bandit." Benn said with a grin "If you want to fight us you should bring a battle ship with you next time." He said and Thatch laughed.

"See I told you they'd need the big guns to take on Shanks-yoi." Marco said off handily.

Luffy stared wide eyed at Shanks and Benn while the bandit looked around now feeling afraid.

"So cool!" Luffy said out loud and Shanks had to fight a smile from forming on his face.

"Wait! The kid provoked us!" He said to Shanks who stared at the bandit leader.

"Whatever aren't you a wanted man?" Shanks asked with a small smile.

Marco sighed this battle was over he went to take a step forward when the bandit threw something at the ground and smoke appeared when it faded away Luffy and the bandit were gone.

Marco's eyes widened as he sprinted towards Shanks who looked equally as shocked at the sudden change in situation.

"Spread out men! Find the kid!" He ordered to his crew and Marco said the same to Thatch

"Find Luffy at all costs! Ace, Sabo go find pops! I'll look from above!" and he jumped forwards turning into the phoenix that he was and the groups wasted no time taking action.

Ace and Sabo ran as fast as they could back to the Moby Dick where a few commanders were talking to one another and Pops was listening from his chair.

"Pops!" The boys shouted and everyone froze

"Luffy-Luffy has been taken by a bandit!" The old man's eyes narrowed and he stood up from his chair.

"Then we'll just have to get him back. Everyone! Your brother is missing! Spread out and search for him! Bring the bandit back to me." He said and a yell was given as everyone left the ship in search of their little brother.

Shanks was panicking this was his entire fault! He should have killed the bandit as soon as he hurt Luffy but he wanted to give the kid a show, a reminder as to why he was the strongest one around. He wanted to look good for Luffy and look where it got him. He ran by the docks away from their large ships when he saw Luffy in a small boat out away from the shore.

"Luffy!" He said why hadn't Marco come out this way yet?! He didn't even stop and think he just jumped right into the water as Luffy was thrown overboard. Shanks picked up speed as he saw Luffy trying his very best to stay above but his devil fruit abilities were about to bring him under.

"Someone, anyone! Help me!" Luffy shouted as loud as he could despite his situation and Shanks looked up suddenly to see a large seaking staring at the bandit before eating him whole and crushing the ship.

He would have laughed at the irony as a bandit should never have taken to sea without knowing the dangers but he saw the monster turn its eyes onto Luffy and dive back under to take another attack.

Like hell was he going to allow this creature to kill the kid! Luffy was too important to way too many people to die like this! Luffy's death would kill Marco and hurt the family in a way Shanks refused to imagine. He grabbed Luffy as suddenly as the Seaking returned and snapped his Jaws around Shanks's arm tearing it off. He would have cried out but Luffy's wide eyes of fear kept his mouth shut and his eyes closed.

Shanks was pissed now, pissed at the bandit for causing this, pissed at the seaking for eating his arm Shanks was full out pissed. He turned his eyes towards the creature and let it know just how mad he was.

"Get lost." And he released a wave of Haki scaring the crap out of the monster sending it as far away as possible. Shanks wasn't sure how long they stood there he was bleeding into the water turning it red around them.

"Hey, how long are you going to keep crying? You're a man aren't you?" He asked but felt like crying himself.

"Bu-but Shanks! Your arm!" Luffy cried out holding onto his shirt tears pouring down his face.

"What this? It's just an arm. I'm just glad you're safe Luffy." And he used his other arm to pull the kid closer to him hugging him tightly as his crying got louder and louder.

When they made it back to land Thatch was there his eyes wide at the blood covering both Luffy and Shanks they grew even wider when they saw Shanks's arm or lack of. Shanks took a step forward and stumbled Thatch caught him and helped him down Luffy was crying loudly silently blaming himself.

"Luffy, a real man doesn't cry that much." Shanks said weakly leaning against a wall and Thatch called Marco over using his Transponder snail. Marco in turn let everyone know they were safe and all rushed towards them.

"You need to get your arm looked at Shanks." Benn said kneeling down to his level and Shanks smiled softly

"Of course I do Benn…" He let everyone help him up and take him back to the Red Force to rest Luffy cried a lot more into Marco's shirt.

"Shh it's alright-yoi." He said and carried the kid back towards the ship Pops was standing there looking at them worry evident on his face. Marco passed the crying child over to him where he returned to hugging Luffy.

"You're safe my son, nothing can hurt you now." He said but Luffy just continued to cry until he fell asleep.

Thatch looked up at the kid knowing the pain he must be feeling.

"The bandit's dead eaten by a sea king." He reported to his father who shook his head.

"Took the easy way out." He said annoyed he didn't get the chance to punish a man for hurting his son.

"The thing ate off Shanks's arm; I think those are tears of fear rather than sadness." He reported and the older man nodded his head.

"He may have nightmares-yoi." Marco said Ace and Sabo stood back and watched the scene but stepped forward finally.

"Then we'll protect him. If nightmares are on their way then we'll fight them off." Sabo said pointing a thumb at himself and grinned widely at the men.

"As long as we're his brothers nothing will ever touch him again, not even nightmares." Ace said crossing his arms and glaring slightly daring anyone to challenge his statement.

"We'll be counting on you." Haruta said coming up behind Ace and kissing his cheek Ace blushed in surprise and tried to wipe it off Sabo laughed at him until he got his own Kiss reacting the exact same way as Ace.

The next morning Luffy woke up in Marco's bed he wasn't too sure when he fell asleep but he knew he was hungry. He got up excited about food when the memories of yesterday crept in and his stomach dropped.

"Shanks…" He whispered and Marco opened the door looking at him and smiling.

"I was wondering when you were going to get up, foods ready-yoi." He said but Luffy looked away.

"Not hungry anymore." He said and Marco sat down on the bed looking at him.

"Shanks is alright-yoi." He said making Luffy look up.

"He is!?" Marco nodded his head.

"It's going to take a bit more than a seaking to take out that guy, common lets go eat and we'll go check up on him, sound good-yoi?" Luffy nodded his head and took Marco's hand and walked towards breakfast.

After breakfast they did go see Shanks Marco took Luffy to the Red Force but chose to wait outside and let them talk.

"S-Shanks?" Luffy said as he opened the door to Shanks's room.

"Common in kid." He said and Luffy ran to the bed where he was resting.

"I'm sorry!" He shouted and hugged Shanks tightly.

"There's nothing to apologize for Lu. I'd do what I did again in a heartbeat, you're too important to me." He said softly and allowed the kid to cuddle into his side resting his head on Shank's chest.

"Did it hurt?" He whispered and Shanks looked at the ceiling.

"Of course it did but loosing you would hurt a whole lot more." Luffy felt tears building in his eyes and blinked trying to stop them.

"You're the coolest ever Shanks." He said making the man laugh loudly.

"Don't you ever forget it kid." Luffy laughed softly along with him. He was still sad about Shanks's arm but he was happy to have his hero still alive.

**-Line Break-**

"You're leaving now?" He said as Shanks walked into his ship a new cape covering the missing arm his red hair blowing in the wind.

"Yup looks like you guys will be as well." He said Luffy pulled the straw hat onto his head and tried to give his smile to the man.

"I'm still going to miss you." He said and Shanks laughed.

"You better!" He turned towards the kids who were watching him before smiling at them.

"We didn't get to talk much with everything that happened. I've heard a lot about you both from Luffy. I'm leaving him in your care." He said and Ace and Sabo's eyes widened before they attempted to not look embarrassed

"We'll take care of him." Ace said grinning up at Shanks who returned it as a spark of recognition passed through his eyes and he looked at Ace a little bit longer.

"What's your name kid?" Shanks asked Ace who now studied the man his smile dropping quickly.

"Portgas, Portgas D. Ace." He said and Shanks eyes lit up in excitement as a memory of a beautiful woman flashed through his mind and a dark haired captain who loved that girl.

"What a nice strong name you have kid." And with that he turned and left Ace just looked at him in confusion what did the man know?!

"Oi Aka Gami!" Marco shouted out suddenly making him stop and turn back towards them.

"I owe you for this, thank you for saving him-yoi." He said truthfully.

"Then why don't you-." He started but Marco's eye twitched before he shouted.

"Never!" Shanks laughed and waved good bye. He was telling Luffy the truth that morning he would give up his arm once more if it meant that the kid could survive to see another day. Heck he'd give up his life for that kid and he got to see something interesting. Portgas D. Ace, he recognized that name the lover of his captain shared that name. Ace did look a lot like her but shared Roger's dark hair and eyes.

"I wonder just how the world will change with them as siblings." Shanks laughed a brotherhood of D's the world would never be the same and Shanks couldn't wait to see that.

**Hello there! I have a super long chapter for you! :D My beta is probably busy right now and I can't wait to post chapters for too long so I am careful on what I'm posting because I really do like what my Beta does for me. :) I was asked to bring Shanks back into Luffy's life so here you go! Romance Dawn part 3 :P I do feel the end was a bit rushed but I do hope you guys liked it :) It was so hard not to call the waitress Makino! :P I didn't add really any Shanks getting to know Ace and Sabo because I am going to do something with them in my sequel :) But I wanted to have Shanks recognize Ace even just a little :) Alright so I think I covered everything I wanted to say with that! to Guest who left that amazing idea oh goodness you just made my plot bunnies go crazy! :D I wish I could have messaged you to thank you so I shall do it here :) GeneralYumi Thankyou! I was having a nervous breakdown on my first day of Placement and you made me smile with your good Luck! I really needed it and you helped me out :) Thank you to all who read my story here I appreciate all of you more than you know! I'm off now to make dinner Please Review for me if you can I like to read them :) Keep well guys! DR**


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